American Drug War: The Last White Hope

In my opinion, most documentaries, regardless of how they are presented, can't really give a totally fair and unbiased view of the given topic. I've noticed that a lot of them are usually presented by people who've had a personal experience with the given topic and that experience almost always sets the tone of the film. As long as you realize this as a viewer, then you can ignore most of the 'flaws' in the film itself and be able to grasp the main theme(s).

Having said that, this is one of the best documentaries on the so called drug war in America that I've seen in years...mainly because of its attempted scope, the tying together of several unrelated happenings that seems to point to the same ends, the number of interviews with a good cross section of people who were involved in the drug business, and the timing...if you believe the statement that Nixon started the latest 'war on drugs' in the 1970s (there were other 'war on drugs' campaigns, like the prohibition on alcohol from the 1920s), then the war has been going on long enough for people to be able to step back and take a really good look at what has happened...and where is it going.

This documentary made me think not only about the present 'war on drugs' that our government is conducting, but how this war can affect other areas of one's life that I previously thought were unrelated to the whole money machine that modern drugs have created (check out the reference to 9/11 made by one of Ricky Ross's pals). There have been other documentaries on the war on drugs in the past that were thought provoking, and there will more made in the future that will hopefully keep opening people's eyes to the realities of the drug business-I think Kevin Booth's documentary will be noted among one of the better ones because in my opinion he has managed to tie enough strings together to make a powerful statement.

(Note: My review of this product is based solely on my viewing of the documentary on one of Time Warner Cable's "On Demand" stations. I cannot speak to the quality of any additional features that may be available on the DVD release.)

"American Drug War: The Last White Hope" is a documentary which attempts to inform its viewers of the horrific consequences of the United States' longstanding War on Drugs. I say "attempts" because the movie makes what I consider to be a very poor effort at doing so. For starters, it is extremely disjointed. Maybe it's just me, but while watching it I heard the filmmaker jump from point to point with little to no consistency. One minute, he'd be talking about the wonders of medical marijuana, the next he'd be going into details of the Iran-Contra scandal. Second, while his use of statistics is appreciated proper citation of their sources is almost nonexistent, which would lead an astute viewer to believe that they are either slightly exaggerated or completely made up. A great deal of what he presents as indisputable fact in these statistics is merely taken as such by pro-legalization advocates without any reliable basis. As an example, when he talks about the amount of deaths due to legal drugs being greater than those for illegal ones, this is merely a function of the legal status of these substances. Researchers in the field have confirmed this; because certain substances are indeed illegal, it is near impossible to accurately measure deaths related to them. Goode in his book (see suggested reading list at bottom) convincingly suggests that if such an accurate measurement could be obtained that the numbers for illegal drugs would be far greater and may even beat out those for legal ones. Third, it is obvious from the getgo that Mr. Booth has a political ax to grind with someone. (Exactly who isn't made quite clear, but it is more than likely the fictitious entity known as "The Man.") I sympathize with the loss of those close to him, having lost a close family member to a drunk driving accident myself (he was not the driver) but from my viewing of this film it seems as though he is trying to blame the United States' government for said losses. The trouble is that he doesn't make a very convincing case for this view, especially given his clearly biased choices of interviewees. These include, but are not limited to, such reputable (sarcasm) figures as 2008 Green Party presidential candidate and known legalization advocate Cynthia McKinney, former Libertarian and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul (who seems to have a tough time deciding exactly which party he belongs to these days), ex-Fear Factor host and sorely overrated comedian Joe Rogan, notorious drug dealer "Freeway" Ricky Ross (who is cleverly portrayed as an innocent pawn in a game of government chess), actor/comedian Tommy Chong, a "reverend" of a "church" that allegedly uses marijuana as one of its religious sacraments, musician Jello Biafra, a former LAPD narcotics agent who is no doubt a card-carrying member of the inconsequential and unimportant group known as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), one of the founders of the Bloods, and a man from the Netherlands who is so obviously damaged by his drug habit that his thoughts are barely coherent. How what is essentially a string of soundbites from any of these people amounts to a strong and convincing case is beyond me. I am sure that Mr. Booth could have found at least one respected and published academic to provide his/her thoughts on the subject, could he not? (Perhaps not though, since drug legalization is something of a very small minority opinion among serious academics.) This thing is so slanted you could roll marbles off of it.

Now, fellow reviewers, please do not misunderstand me. Just because I harbor a (very) negative opinion of this particular film does not mean that I am one who marches in lockstep with and is in full support of the War on Drugs. I see no reason for us as a nation to continue locking up first or second-time nonviolent drug offenders when other options such as treatment and drug courts could be easily pursued, as well as the use of alternative sanctions such as fines, community service, and probation. California has done it successfully with Proposition 36, so why can't the rest of the states do something similar? Funding for treatment and prevention/education programs needs to be increased, as well as job and family support for released offenders strengthened. Furthermore, I think it would behoove all of us if our law enforcement agencies started to deemphasize the criminality of minor possession offenses. However, blanket legalization of drugs is not the answer to our problems. Making marijuana, cocaine, LSD, heroin, or any other currently illegal substance available for purchase in convenience and grocery stores the same way that tobacco and alcohol are isn't going to do anyone a lick of good, no matter how much they are taxed. A black market of sorts will still exist for these substances vis-a-vis distributors who will not charge taxes, and there will be ample supply of other drugs that are not legalized from these very same dealers. Furthermore, if you can show me one scientific study that definitively demonstrates that the legalization of drugs will produce even a modest reduction in crime rates, I will eat my hat. (Hint: Saying "Prohibition didn't work in the 1920s" and "Legalization works in the Netherlands, so why not here?" does not qualify.) Sure, the amount of drug-defined offenses (possession, distribution, etc.) would go down but crimes such as murder, robbery, burglary, rape, and the like would be largely untouched. A causal relationship between drug use and crime simply does not exist. I am in support of the use of marijuana as medicine for terminally ill people who need it, but I feel that they must prove the need along with a written statement from a doctor showing that other, conventional treatments have failed to mitigate their discomfort. Additionally, it needs to be tightly controlled in much the same way that other prescription drugs are today. No one should be given a "license" to grow untold quantities of the stuff in their backyard simply because they claim they need it for their glaucoma or whatever the case may be.

I was looking for a thought-provoking, unbiased examination of the harms caused by the War on Drugs, and this particular documentary fell far short of my expectations. I am quite aware that such an opinion will not be the prevailing one in the reviews for this film but I seriously couldn't care less. Booth covers absolutely no new ground and this project is merely preaching to the already converted, not unlike Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me." (Another horribly biased piece of work.) I gave it two stars because A) I agree with a handful of the points the filmmaker made, such as some of those regarding medical marijuana use and B) one star seems unduly harsh and three too generous. The filmmaker and all those involved with this project seem thoroughly convinced that drug legalization is our only solution to this problem but care little for data showing that such experiments will indeed work in our favor. "Just legalize it!" is no solution; at best, it is a heavily-touted panacea. For anyone interested in a more critical, balanced view of drugs and drug policy, I recommend you read any or all of the following books. (Most if not all of them are available right here on Amazon.)

-Sense and Nonsense about Crime and Drugs: A Policy Guide, by Samuel Walker
-Between Politics and Reason: The Drug Legalization Debate, by Erich Goode
-Against Excess, by Mark A.R. Kleiman
-The Drug Legalization Debate, an anthology of essays edited by James Inciardi

(All books written by respected criminoogical and/or sociological scholars, not gangbangers, politicians, musicians, or actors.)

American Drug War: The Last White Hope I think most of us at some point in our lives have heard at least a rumor or two about our Federal governments' shady operations. American Drug War puts everything in a very clear picture into one provoking package. This is in no way a "stoner" movie rather this is a documentary on the history of our governments continued atrocious control over us to the detriment of all Americans not financially wealthy. Every American is impacted by the "war on drugs" regardless of whether or not they use legal drugs (including alcohol, tobacco, and prescription meds), illegal drugs, or none at all. I hope that people who claim to have an open mind watch this and see for themselves what's truly going on. As a very proud American it saddens me to learn that the biggest threat to our nation is our own government's greed. Thank you Kevin Booth for your diligence in working to bring this information to us.

The propaganda statements and/or slogans regarding highly volatile issues of great public concern today, such as the war on drugs, are often semantically designed to promote a point of view on the basis of their emotional impact rather than logic. While this is certainly a valuable tool for the attitudinal manipulation of the less enlightened masses, who will eagerly parrot these messages as being representative of authoritative wisdom, they are often, in fact, nothing more than a simplistic panacean smoke screen that serves to obviate a realistic examination of the complex issues involved, by fostering unreasoned opinion. This film is highly recommended to anyone wanting to gain a realistic understanding of the drug war in America.

American Drug War shows ways the various ways the government has chosen to hold back the legalization of drugs and the consequences of it. It effectively compares countries who have legalized drugs such as the Netherlands to the U.S. Some of the guests in this documentary were quite credible including CIA agents, a Californian judge, and some other former government officials. This made it so much better because anyone can make up a conspiracy theory, and I actually think a decent amount of filmmakers get following conspiracy theories that only have a grain of truth. American Drug War, however, covers several areas relating drug legislation in the U.S. from a more seemingly unbiased and believable standpoint.