American Drug War: The Last White Hope - 2007

The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, the question has become, how much more can the country endure? Inspired by the death of four family members from "legal drugs" Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the Drug War has become such a big failure. Three and a half years in the making the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners and celebrities. Most notably the film befriends Freeway Ricky Ross; the man many accuse for starting the Crack epidemic, who after being arrested discovered that his cocaine source had been working for the CIA. AMERICAN DRUG WAR shows how money, power and greed have corrupted not just dope fiends but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not some 'pro-drug' stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war, the ones who are fighting it and the ones who are living it.

American Drug War follows filmmaker Kevin Booth as he consults with people on all fronts of the war on drugs to create a multidimensional portrait of those impacted most directly, from users and dealers to law enforcement officials and politicians.

Examining the role of poverty in drug use and its perpetuation of the addiction cycle, Booth and his crew go undercover to infiltrate one of the most notorious drug hotbeds outside of Los Angeles to capture footage of street junkies in action. In one vignette he captures a conversation between a police officer and an addict who is disoriented enough to be using directly in front of the police station. The man explains his preference for crack over meth as casually as if he were comparing Coke to Pepsi.

With street drugs now stronger, more readily available, and cheaper than in 1973 when Richard Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Agency, Booth asks why so much time and money is funneled into the criminalization of recreational drugs instead of recovery and addiction support programs. He highlights the futility of criminalizing drugs like methamphetamine, which can be made at home with over the counter ingredients, and questions the dubious entity that is the Partnership for a Drug-Free America - an America which has never existed and, according to interviewee Judge James P. Gray of California's Orange County Superior Court, never will.

While Booth speaks to law enforcement officials like Gray who admit to the failure of the drug war, he also grants time to its proponents, notably Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Boasting a reputation as the toughest sheriff in America, Arpaio created S.M.A.R.T. Tents, the largest tent city in the U.S., if not the world, where he houses convicted inmates - about half of whom are there on drug charges.

These are just a few of the stories shared in American Drug War, a dynamic review of the history of the war on drugs in the United States and the societal burden it has created as a result. Genuinely questioning the impact and shortcomings of the United States' war on drugs, it manages to be an unbiased, revelatory film.

American Drug War: The Last White Hope is a 2007 documentary film by writer/director Kevin Booth about the War on Drugs in the United States.

Synopsis

The film states the War on Drugs has become one of the longest and most costly wars in American history. Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to prove his claim that the Drug War has failed. Three and a half years in the making, the film includes sections showing 62 people including: former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, gang members, prisoners and celebrities. There is also extensive treatment of CIA and Contras cocaine trafficking in the US. San Jose Mercury News journalist Gary Webb exposes the connection between the arrest of "Freeway" Rick Ross and his cocaine source who was employed with the CIA.

Awards

• 2007 Artivist Film Festival, Best Feature, Intl. Human Rights
• 2007 Silver Lake Film Festival, Best Documentary
• 2007 DIY Film Fest, Best Documentary
• 2006 Evil City, Best Documentary

Television

• Picked up by Showtime in March 2008 to be aired for the next two years.
• Shown on Australia's Foxtel Crime & Investigation Network.

Media attention

On an April 2008 episode of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, actor Esai Morales brought up the documentary and told everyone at home to see it for themselves.^[10] Morales' comments became the focus of a "Pinheads and Patriots" segment on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Channel television program.