The Global Addiction - 40 minute documentary - trailer

Watch the full film here: http://vod.journeyman.tv/s/The+Global+Addiction

In some developing countries, drug production shapes politics and even funds civil war. Can addiction be tackled or should global strategies accept some drug use in our societies? Can the 'war on drugs' ever be won?

For downloads and more information, visit: http://www.journeyman.tv/9235/short-films/the-global-addiction.html

Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

1 December 1999

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• World
• Drug
• addiction
• Drugs
• Politics
• Civil
• war
• Trafficking
• Afghanistan
• news
• documentary
• current affairs
• Journeyman
• pictures
• journeyman pictures

[ClarkieDude]

The single most dangerous substance [drug] in the world is alcohol--and, yet, it has one of the largest, most influential lobbies in the House and Senate. The drug of choice? Alcohol. Its prohibition is long since dead. Why not do the same with every other drug on the black market? From heroin to crack; tax the sale and distribution to dope to people over the age of consent, erase the national debt, free up prisons for real (violent) criminals, and allow law enforcement to do its job.

[mobajwa]

out dated information.. at least the part about afghanistan

[Moosicles16]

@nickyaz111

That's already happened. They are called pharms. They are just "official" versions of heroin and meth. Same shit. The only thing is that there are laws against illegal pharm use but it's so easy to get pharms. Tell a doctor you have anxiety or ADD.

[nickyaz111]

@Pimpjit85 In my opinion, take the distribution of drugs away from criminals, put in the hands of the state. Then draft extremely strict laws in regards to illegal trafficking and illegal purchase.

[nickyaz111]

@Pimpjit85 Keywords to consider, 'unrestricted' and 'readily available', I simply advocate legalisation because by putting the drug trade in the hands of the state it will allow them to regulate and restrict advertising, restrict commercialisation etc.

Where I live in Australia currently, if you want a drug, you can get it within 24 hours maximum. I live in a high income area as well. Clearly enforcement isn't working, we need to put sale into the hands of the state and not criminals.

[Pimpjit85]

@nickyaz111 For the sake of your friends/children or whoever else you preach this nonsense to, please understand the issue is bigger and much more difficult then just saying "well fuck lets legalize and tell everyone it's bad". It's a global issue and immensely challenging. I agree we should educate the shit out of people. But back to my original point, taking drugs affects EVERYONE. It is NOT your "civil right" to do what is wrong or harmful to yourself, your family, or your society.

[Pimpjit85]

@nickyaz111 You mention 'facts' but then group a drug like MJ with all other drugs. That's irresponsible, dismissive and lazy. Egypt allowed unrestricted trade of cocaine and heroin in 1920s, a damn epidemic of addiction resulted. Even in Iran and Thailand, countries where drugs are readily available, any idea the mess they have there? Did you even know netherlands are reconsidering the legalization of MJ. This is because property crime has doubled & studies show 80% of arrests are drug addicts

[Pimpjit85]

@nickyaz111 Um, you didn't address my comment at all, instead you're discussing legality...Anyway, I think most realize that marijuana can be legalized with little negative consequences. What's your point? MJ is not like cocaine, friend. You wanna talk history of legalizing drugs, cuz in foreign nations it NOT been successful. Opium was legalized in China earlier this century. That decision resulted in 90 million addicts and it took a half-century to repair the damage.

[nickyaz111]

@Pimpjit85 I agree that drugs cause problems, but people are going to use them irrespective of our current enforcement, this is why I advocate legality and regulation. Our current system causes MORE problems (drug cartels, taliban profiting off opium cultivation etc). We need to approach the problem differently, through a fucking bucket load of education, we need to reduce the demand for drugs, reducing the supply to a point where demand will significantly decline is far too problematic.

[nickyaz111]

@Pimpjit85 You believe legality influences use? Look at the facts.

"The figures for cannabis use among the general population reveal the same pictures. The Netherlands does not differ greatly from other European countries. In contrast, a comparison with the US shows a striking difference in this area: 32.9% of Americans aged 12 and above have experience with cannabis and 5.1% have used in the past month. These figures are twice as high as those in the Netherlands."

[Pimpjit85]

@nickyaz111 I commend you for trying to be informed but you'll have a tough time finding anyone to agree with you. Drug's severely affect all of society, youtube isn't the forum to help you understand why but I suggest you do the research. In 2008, 24000 ppl in Chicago alone were admitted due to Heroin. Who do you think pays for treatment? And keep in mind, the millions spent on publicly funded treatment programs is just a small piece of the pie in chicago, let alone the country or entire globe.