Thomas Winston, a stereotype, a black New Yorker who has been in and out of prison all his life for the sale and possession of drugs. Thomas has signed up for a campaign to reform New York’s Rockefeller drug laws. The sale or possession of small amounts of drugs are given a mandatory sentence equivalent to second-degree murder. Angus MacQueen, Our Drugs War: Life and Death of a Dealer
As I stand there explaining the film we are making I’m actually the only white person in the room. Yet a recent Human Rights Watch report had confirmed that whites both sell and take drugs just as much as blacks. ibid.
On Christmas Day 2009 Thomas was stabbed to death on the Queensbridge Estate. ibid.
Forty years of governments trying to ban drugs have been a total failure. Angus MacQueen, Our Drugs War: Birth of a Narco-State
But the need to suggest our drugs policies are succeeding clearly unites governments from all over the world. ibid.
On my journey here from the clubs of Edinburgh and the ghettos of New York I’ve seen how forty years of fighting drugs has completely failed to stem supply or demand. In fact quite the reverse. ibid.
In this one-hour Vanguard report we’ll look at the fight amongst Mexico’s government and its most notorious drugs lords in a society that’s caught in the middle. Vanguard: Mexican Drug Wars, Vice 2009
In the last three months there have been more than five hundred drug-related murders. ibid.
In Florida pills are involved in 75% of all the drug-related deaths. ibid.
But the story of the celebrity overdose overshadows a much larger issue. In the United States more people are now abusing prescription medication than heroin, cocaine and ecstasy combined. The drug of choice for a growing number of users is Oxycodone, a synthetic opiate ... It’s basically heroin made in a lab. Hillbilly Heroin, Vice 2010
In Florida some pain clinics are known to dispense medication more than others. ibid.
Some clinics have been set up just to cater to pill addicts. ibid.
Florida has become the painkiller capital of the US. Of all the Oxycodone dispensed by doctors in the whole country 85% of it comes from Florida. With the abundance of pills the state is seeing a new type of tourism. ibid.
They may look like soldiers but these are police officers – members of Colombia’s anti-narcotics branch. Colombia’s Drug Wars
Some 90% of all illegal cocaine consumed in the US still comes from or through Colombia. ibid.
Both sides also fund their cause by producing drugs. ibid.
One man – Pablo Escobar – made this country the biggest cocaine producer in the world. ibid.
In many towns and villages outlaws have killed or driven out the police. ibid.
Around the world coffee prices have sunk to historic lows. ibid.
The coke trade’s foot soldier is the mule. ibid.
‘I love it. More than anything. More than life itself, you know. But yet I hate it worse than anything.’ High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell, woman on crack, Community Channel 2013
Three weeks later Brenda leaves Boo Boo. She hides at the house of her ex-boyfriend Mike. ibid. caption
To get money for crack Dickie commits a series of violent crimes. He is arrested for the 27th time. ibid.
Brenda is now four months pregnant. She decides to enter a drug rehab program. She is back with Boo Boo. ibid.
One month later Brenda is running out of time for an abortion. Her drug addiction has gotten worse. ibid.
Brenda doesn’t show up for her abortion. Three weeks later Brenda disappears from Lowell. ibid.
Boo Boo starts to fall apart. ibid.
Boo Boo stays off crack for three months. He joins a HIV support group. ibid.
Dickie spends his last night cracking up with Boo Boo. In the morning he will be sentenced to a long prison term. ibid.
Boo Boo lives in Lowell. His crack habit is $200 a day. Dickie is in a state prison. He will be eligible for parole in 1999. Brenda is still missing. No-one in Lowell has seen her. ibid.
Mexico is at war. A war for control of its own country. Against a rich and powerful enemy: the Mexican drug cartels. Narco Bling, National Geographic 2013
These narco-traffickers live in a world of astonishing wealth and extravagance … The Mausoleums are air-conditioned. ibid.
The government had committed more than 40,000 troops to fight the war against the drug cartels. ibid.
Some cartels are as rich as nations. ibid.
Chapo Guzman ran his businesses from prison for eight years. ibid.
Methamphetamine: more than 80% of the Meth that is sold in the US comes from Mexico. ibid.
Another operation to provide guns for the Contras that was also against the law. In this operation Americans and Israelis provided arms to the Contras and then the same smuggled drugs into the United States. US News report, cited Invisible Empire
Prohibition doesn’t really doesn’t work very well. It actually makes dangerous drugs more dangerous. It pushes the market towards ever more concentrated and potent products. Steve Rolles, head of research Transform
It’s the country’s favourite illegal drug. Nearly half of Americans have tried marijuana at least once. Drugged s1e1: High on Marijuana, National Geographic 2013
Smoking marijuana may increase the risk of having a heart attack. ibid.
Our bodies are hardwired to react to cannabis. ibid.
It’s one of the most addictive drugs in the world. Whatever you call it nearly 37 million Americans have used it at least once. Drugged s1e2: High on Cocaine
Its popularity has soared as its price has dropped. ibid.
The drug sends the network into overdrive. Cocaine triggers the massive release of Dopamine across the gaps. ibid.
More: that’s the coke-user’s problem. ibid.
A cocaine addict’s brain becomes de-sensitised. ibid.
For the past thirty years ecstasy has become one of America’s top club drugs. It’s had a major effect on fashion, music and how we party. Drugged s1e3: High on Ecstasy
The crystal form of the drug … MDMA. ibid.
Temperature can rise rapidly without them noticing. ibid.
‘You never get all your stores back up to the way they were before you took MDMA.’ ibid. user
They’re young and hopelessly addicted. A new generation of heroin junkies. Drugged s2e2: High on Heroin
A craving that never goes away. Each smoke brings a powerful high ... But heroin destroys users. ibid.
2,000 Americans die from heroin overdose each year. ibid.
Heroin withdrawal impacts the whole body. ibid.
A new generation of heroin addicts – young, middle class. ibid.
Over 125,000 high school students in America use heroin every month. ibid.
Loved ones are abused and abandoned. ibid.
The majority of fatal overdoses involve mixing more than one drug. ibid.
An addict is vulnerable to lung diseases such as influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis. ibid.
Suboxone is twenty times more powerful than morphine. ibid.
Crystal Meth and alcohol: the old face of addiction and the new. Over twenty million Americans are hooked. Drugged s2e3: High on Meth
A drug that’s increasingly become a problem across the world. ibid.
Crystal Meth costs around $120 per gram. ibid.
Crystal Meth increases libido and sexual pleasure. ibid.
Over time Meth users need the drug more and more frequently to feel OK. ibid.