Channel 4: Our Drugs War

[Jules]

Series starting on Monday 2 August:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/our-drugs-war/episode-guide

[wastedyouth]

I noticed it said that 60-70% of residents that lived in this estate were users, what i would be really interested in is were they users before they moved into the estate or after.  Is the council using this estate as some kind of containment area or when they are moved to such a place where there is not much hope of employment etc, is it much easier to sucum to the drugs as there on your front door.

[Jules]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/01/angus-macqueen-drugs-trade-policy

[OP8S]

I noticed on last nights program that it was stated that The Taliban are funded to the tune of 60% by the opium trade, this differs to figures quoted in Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy's book " Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy " 2010 edition. In this book he theorisies that the bulk of The Taliban's funds come from Islamic states & he also devotes a section to dismanteling the now common view of any country being simply a Narco-State. His view of it is that you can have two different economies. Either a "war economy" where the production of narcotics flourishes as happened in Vietnam ( where the first illeagal heroin lab in that country was financed by the C.I.A. , no surprise ) & a " peace economy " where because of the stability other crops, business ventures thrive. Often making more money for the poor farmers to survive on. It just goes to show that there are two, sometimes maybe three sides to the coin.