HOOKED: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way – Cocaine [Video]
September 22, 2012 11:00 am | Heit & Cheri
Summary
There has been a “drug culture” since the dawn of civilization. Sumerian cuneiform tablets from 3000 BC show a poppy harvest, as do ancient Egyptian scripts and Greek statues adorned with poppy crowns. Far more recently, Freud sung the praises of cocaine, which was included in the original recipe for Coca-Cola. But since the industrial revolution, drug use has changed dramatically, and society’s response to this–particularly in America–has been to demonize users and make drugs illegal.
HOOKED explores the world of illegal drugs, meeting with pharmacologists and scientists to learn exactly what effect they have on us and exploring the social and legislative changes that have transformed (and, some would argue, created) the drug culture of the 20th century. Outspoken advocates on both sides of the “war on drugs” illuminate this polarizing issue, and fascinating accounts and artifacts illustrate the role of drugs throughout history.
Derived from South America’s coca leaf, cocaine was touted as a cure-all in the late 19th century and was the secret ingredient in many medicines and elixirs such as Coca-Cola. But cocaine’s allure quickly diminished as racism entered the picture–the concept of the “cocaine-crazed Negro” even led police to strengthen the caliber of their guns from .32 to .38. We’ll see how, though it was outlawed in 1914, its popularity soared in the 1980s and ’90s and gave birth to a deadlier form–crack.
Heit & Cheri’s Review
We discussed this documentary in depth on Episode 053: We’ll Get You 2 Crack, as we detailed the history of powder cocaine and crack cocaine in America. This film is well worth the time spent viewing it, as it provides the viewer with the background of the historical social and political circumstances that eventually led to the War on Drugs and crack epidemic in the latter part of the 20th Century.
Since the mass criminalization of drug offenses over the past thirty or so years–especially for crack that notoriously receives many times the sentencing of powder cocaine–allowed for the rise of the prison industrial complex that has ensnared so many youth, it is really important to understand the history of these drugs in America.
Another interesting thing is the evolution of the social acceptability of cocaine use throughout it’s history. People viewed the drug very differently a couple of hundred years ago. Be sure to check out the film below.
Watch HOOKED: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way – Cocaine Online Now!
Source:
DocuWiki
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