with only 2 hours i can see the need to sort of gloss over many smaller issues that make up the war on drugs. there were some totally unprofessional people giving their 2 cents, but that's all it is, opinions. i don't see the harm in trying to get some everyday people talking and thinking about these issues, not just CIA/LAPD folk and politicians. i totally agree that just cause someone says something doesn't make it true though. but this film gets people thinking and wanting to research and look into these issues themselves. like most people completely dismiss the idea of CIA being involved with drug trafficking in iran-contra as a conspiracy theory, without even thinking about it or looking at any evidence on either side. but there are a lot of people on record alleging otherwise. Ricky Ross's partner made a statement saying he was partnered with CIA. Ricky knew from the beginning Blandon was sending weapons and computers and such to the contras to fund a war, not knowing the CIA was involved. Ross's associates stated Blandon would tip him on raids. these are only recorded statements, but there seems to be too many people (in and outside Ross's crew) to just be trying to scapegoat the CIA.
people like the sheriff of tent prison, and drug czar cafferty just make themselves and other conservatives look bad, can't blame liberal bias for that. "bodies everywhere passed out all over the street cause they're high on drugs, gotta step over them everywhere you go." how can this guy have a brain? that sounds more like inner cities in the US than anywhere in the Netherlands. these guys seriously think if we stop criminalizing drug use, all hell is gonna break loose on the streets. it's ludicrous.
sorry i went above and beyond a reply, but i didn't wanna start a new thread just to do a little ranting (not aimed at thread starter). bottom line is i liked the documentary. this is stuff i like reading and learning about, but i totally agree people need to think for themselves and not just believe whatever they are told they should.
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sektionproductions-654-897545
13 years ago
I just saw this a few hours ago on Netflix and I gotta say I totally agree with the original poster. I was very intrigued by the description they had here on IMDB, it sounded like a very ambitious documentary but when I saw the film I felt that it was amateur night at the Apollo. I mean it would mention topics like the Nicaraguan Contra, the crack epidemic of the 80s, the privatization of prisons, Wall St, health care, law enforcement, governmental policy etc...But I feel that it failed to link all them together or at least not in the depth and magnitude that I was hoping for. The film said the CIA was flying planes full of cocaine into the US and at the same time Freeway Ricky Ross was making millions selling crack but they never put those two together. I was excited to hear about the privatization of prisons cuz I just watched a documentary called The Corporation that went into great detail about the dangers of entities privatizing other entities but all they did was talk about forced labor and how it's like a form of slavery (like that's anything new) and they loosely linked that to the drug war. I just watched Inside Job so I was interested in how Wall St played a part but they merely just mentioned that people were making off the drug war but never explained who was making money on Wall St and how they did it. Also the film seemed that it went off on tangents like Amsterdam. It seemed like the filmmakers didn't know in which direction to put their focus on. That plus reputable people with verifiable information would have been nice as well. It seemed like an extremely fragmented view of America's War on Drugs. But one good thing came out of this-It did get me thinking and wanting to know more about it and how everything is connected because they undeniably are but one would never know that by watching this film.
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