“the war on drugs…now does more harm than the drugs themselves… after watching this grimly fascinating film… it’s hard to disagree”  Telegraph

“extraordinary series… eye-opening”  Daily Mail

This major three-part series examines the global story of our drugs policies from the streets of Edinburgh to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, from consumption to demand to supply – concluding that the war on drugs is more harmful than the drugs themselves.

Film One: Everyone’s at it explores the taboos against talking about drugs honestly: the police fail to control supply (in Scotland seizing just 1% of the heroin consumed), criminals make money, demand only increases – with the advent of synthetic drugs like GBL, banning and policing are becoming ever more random. When will we come up with an honest policy our children can believe in which faces the issues and realities head on?

Film Two: Life and Death of a Dealer looks, through the life and death of Thomas, a dealer in New York, at the social costs of the Drugs War – where the use of law and order to deal with a health issue has created a cycle of crime and punishment that addresses none of the real issues. It also creates ghettoes in our main cities – often racially defined. Human Rights Watch has established that all races in the US sell and consume drugs in equal numbers, yet over 80% of those imprisoned are Black or Latino. The story is no different in Britain.

Film Three: Birth of a Narco-State  We are told British soldiers are dying in Afghanistan fighting an ideological enemy in the War on Terror. Film Three shows how the illegality of drugs – and our war on drugs – is fuelling a long-term civil war: Western demand for heroin and the huge monies it generates not only finances warlords on both sides, it is corrupting the very government we are fighting to protect. The film engages with those working to establish some sort of order – in the face of overwhelming odds. We are creating another Colombia or Mexico but now, with the war on Islamic extremism – welcome to the world’s first Narco-Theocracy.

CHANNEL 4 (2012)

Director/Writer/Presenter: Angus Macqueen
(Director Film Three: Monica Garnsey)
Camera/Producer: Sasha Djurkovic
Editors: Brand Thumin, Paul Carlin