
From the first frame this definitive documentary ties the blithe recreational use of cocaine, "a bit of good fun", to the global realities of its "dirty supply chain". With unprecedented access to all the major players in the War on Drugs, from Presidents to drug mules, Cocaine Unwrapped challenges preconceptions and begs compassion. On Balitmore's Reservoir Hill the boarded up lots speak of the death of an inner city, where rampant drug dealing in broad daylight is now the only industry. Cruising the streets with a veteran police officer Neill Franklin we sense the urgent need for change in drug policy, since "A criminal conviction will follow you for the rest of your life". In Baltimore's prison a crack dealer doing 25 years for his crimes, will have no life left to go to. Cut to the jungles of Colombia and the massive police effort to disrupt production. The madness of aerial spraying is borne out in the blanket destruction of impoverished farmers' crops. "Everything's dead" says farmer Maria, from papaya to chocolate, banana to yucca. The medical damage of fumigation is driving migration to the cities and we hear from its many critics in both Colombia and the US. In fact fumigation appears to be driving desperate farmers to produce coca, a fact ignored by Colombia's President who blames demand in Western Europe. Contrast this with the stand taken by Bolivian President Evo Morales, who brandished the coca leaf at the UN and expresses deep pride in this traditional crop <b>...</b>
Cocaine Unwrapped
documentary
Journeyman pictures
cocaine
illegal drugs trade
ecuador
usa
uk
mexico
drug trafficking
crime
drug smuggling
coke