War on Drugs in the Film "Traffic"

The failure of the war on drugs has been much discussed, and even conservatives are beginning to express doubts. A recent article in The Washington Times asks,

For decades, we have been grinding away at the dope trade, spending hugely, putting appalling numbers of users and dealers in prison, increasing the powers of the federal police. What have we gotten for it? (Reed, 2000, p. C2).

The answer given is, not much: "Because of the drug laws, horrendous amounts of money go to drug lords in Colombia who otherwise couldn't make a living" (Reed, 2000, p. C2). This is also the answer given by the film Traffic.

In the film, the direction of the drug traffic is clear--it moves from the poorer countries of Latin America north to where the market is, in the United States. This traffic involves the heads of the cartels, those who work for them, distributors in the United States, and small-time pushers such as the black man who deals through a crack

. . .
l because she has a new process that will help bring more drugs into the country. Demand for drugs is elastic over time, rising and falling according to social attitudes, economic realities, and specifically the number of users. The pervasive nature of the drug problem is seen in the film as users come from all walks of life, many simply experimenting or rebelling, others turning to drugs as a means of escape from the horrors of their existence. Caroline Wakefield is a daughter of privilege, but she begins using drugs because others in her social group use them. These young people are rebelling against society or against parents they do not understand or who do not understand them. For many, experimentation is all that is involved. For some, like Catherine, using drugs taps into some psychological predisposition toward addiction, and the girl sinks further into the drug world and soon cares for nothing except her supply. Drug czar Robert Hudson Wakefield has little idea about the scope of the drug war, no understanding at all of the nuances of the situation within Mexico, and no understanding of his daughter. Yet, as the film shows, even if he did understand the situation better, he would be able to do very little to make
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Hudson Wakefield, Helena Ayala, United America, Steven Soderbergh, Latin America, Carlos Ayala, Washington Times, United Caroline's, Caroline Wakefield, Rodriguez Rodriguez, drug trade, hudson wakefield, drug czar, robert hudson, using drugs, robert hudson wakefield, sell drugs, countries latin america, tells stories, c2 answer, latin america, film tells, drug czar robert, czar robert hudson, film tells stories,
Approximate Word count = 1392
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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