Traffic, Directed by Steven Soderbergh Essay

If cocaine were legal, what would the little packages be called? Sweet N' High! Unfortunately, this is an example of what is commonly known as a “crack joke.” Drugs are increasingly being misused and abused. Yet, today’s youth in its ignorance takes drugs as a light matter. It is a different story altogether from someone who has actually used drugs. In Beautiful Boy, journalist David Sheff recounts his own and his son, Nic’s journey of drug abuse. Sheff’s memoir is a haunting experience filled with tears, brawls, and ample amounts of crystal meth. In Beautiful Boy, Sheff, while applying a casual and conversational style, effectively uses rhetoric to share his experience with an addicted teen.

The movie industry has involved the use of drugs, sex, violence over the years to increase the thrill of movies. Realistic depictions or not, movies with any of these three categories have been frequently viewed and accepted in our culture. With movies creating false “fictional drugs,” along with amplifying the side effects of prescription drugs, it is crucial to critique what is actually true or not. Whether or not the drug’s effects are medically correct has been glanced over by many. Directed by Scott Calvert in 1995, the movie The Basketball Diaries focuses on the substance abuse of heroin by the main character, Jim.

“Hollywood usually ends up swallowing people and eating them alive”, are some of the beginning words in the National Geographic docu-series Drugs Inc... The documentary is rightly names “Hollywood high” because of its raw footage. This film is a chilling depiction of drugs and Hollywood. Its uncut material shows the reality of how drugs can affect people of every walk of life. A person doesn’t have to be rich or poor to become drug dependent. The film goes on to say how “fame hungry wannabes” and the “panhandling homeless” are two of the main populations to be affected by Hollywood’s thriving drug trade. Some of the other populations affected by Hollywood’s thriving drug trade are those who want to “stay up” and “be thin”. This film is not only about the populations affected by the thriving Hollywood drug trade but also the drug dealers and doctors who provide the drugs to that population.

Ted Demme’s Blow is a highly informative movie about America’s war on drugs. Although dramatized at times, the film depicts the war on drugs rather accurately and captures the true essence of why America is fighting a war on drugs. Rather than generalizing the drug war to its audience, the film individualizes it to help facilitate the understanding of topics such as drug smuggling, mandatory minimum sentencing, and sting operations.

Within Hunter S. Thompsons book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and the movie “Easy Rider” directed by Dennis Hopper the involvement of drugs is important as the represent a greater picture of the American values and where they are headed. The use of drugs is looked down upon by American values due to the effects that it has on people, and the amount of deaths it leads to each year. The use of drugs does not fit in with the American values of having the American Dream, which is represented through having the perfect family, a house within the suburbs, and stable job. Drugs play no part in the American Dream, but rebel against such a notion such as the American dream. Both the book and movie have many similarities in the way that drug use plays a major factor within the characters’ lives, while at the same time serving a different purpose for both the book and novel.

Traffic is a film written by Simon Moore and Stephen Gaghan, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and released in 2000 by USA Films. The movie tells three different stories. The first story is of two Mexican police officers, which become entangled in the Mexican cartel war, during a drug bust of one of the cartels. The second story in the movie is about a conservative federal judge in Ohio who has been appointed by the President to the position of director of the Office of National Drug Policy, or the United States Drug Czar. The judge’s daughter is slipping into drug addiction during his turnover process. The third story is about two Drug Enforcement Agents that bust a dealer in the United States that is working as the main distributor for one of the Mexican cartels involved in the first subplot of the movie. All three plots emphasize control and follow through with a conclusion of not having control at all. In comparison, the United States government maintains an appearance of having control of the War on Drugs, but when examining the statistics on the War on Drugs and adding to that, the fact that it continues with people still using illegal substances, it becomes apparent that there is no control over the drug problem in the United States. The movie also depicts, as part of the war on drugs, the American criminal justice system, the political appointments to oversee the issues at

According to the national institute on Drug Abuse, Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our Nation, exacting more than $740 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care (NIDA. 2017, April 24). The rising of illicit drug smuggling and abuse raised questions about legalizing all drug. Although some people think that drugs legalization is a way to control illicit drug use, it seems that it will do more damage to our society than it will help. This essay will help us understand all the implications regarding all drugs legalization in this country.

From the film Traffic, there was multiple ways of war on drugs rather it be families becoming enemies, friends dying, peer pressure or big drug dealers getting off in court because "lack of evidence"; which means they kill the witness. It showed many ways as to how drugs are important to those people, if it brings in money, people will do anything for money. And people will do anything to get their drugs; addict will treat themselves regardless of how much it hurts. Watching this film was sad because things like this do happen and addicts can’t control themselves and they won't stop until they have drugs in their system. It's almost like addicts become child like in many ways, they steal your things without you knowing and then act like they

The production of cocaine as a consumer good has many contexts that define economic, political, social, and cultural impacts globally. In this paper, I will examine the relationships between cocaine and broader issues in the countries in which they are produced - primarily Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. This broad topic calls for a narrow study on the consequences of the cocaine industry within these countries. I aim to notice a link within these frameworks to form an understanding of how the production and consumption of cocaine is an ultimate example of the workings of a capitalist system. In addition to emphasizing the economic, political, social, and cultural relationships to the chain of production, I study the major problems facing

The War on Drugs has been a global catastrophe for quite some time now in our society. Illegal drug trade has destroyed families, friendships, and personal lives immensely, more than we could ever dream of. While some sources have considered that we as a nation should not fight over the war on drugs due to the potential positive influences that come out of the situation. This leads to reducing future drug use, helps creating a safe drug-free environment, and to decrease drug related crimes. This epidemic has caused numerous negative effects including widespread global corruption, increased

Before its prohibition, marijuana was a common ingredient found in different medicinal products. The drug was commercialized in the liquid form of hashish in most pharmaceutical stores across America. However, it was not until the early twentieth century that several states passed laws prohibiting the plant; at the time the case was not controversial and had little public outcry. Back then marijuana smoking was mostly performed by the lower class and immigrants, mainly of Mexican origin. Therefore, the association between the use of marijuana with violence and crime was not born with evidence, but rather by association made through the media that portrayed marijuana as a dangerous drug comparable to narcotics and opiates that were of greater popularity at the time. Since there was little distinction among illicit drugs—such as heroin, cocaine, and marijuana—they were all thought to be addictive, dangerous, and scary. By the 1960’s the demographics between marijuana users shifted from lower class immigrants to college students. This change only showcased the lack of proof regarding the harms of weed since most smokers had no negative effects from using the drug. And the mild effects of intoxication were rather pleasant. Despite the growing consensus that marijuana was not a dangerous drug, during the early 1970’s president Richard Nixon decided to take a stance against marijuana use by deeming it a “law and order” issue and referring to it as a “getaway drug”. Attitudes like

After seeing the movie "Crash" which was directed by Paul Haggis I seemed to have viewed life a little differently. I honestly felt like this movie exposed me to different kinds of social and multicultural situations I could possibly ever think of. The movie gave me many examples of how these events could affect our society in general. As I closely observed the movie I noticed the different behaviors it contained one of them that stood out to me the most was prejudice. I personally view prejudice as a general thought that almost everyone has had at least once in his or her life.

It is, to the most average person of these times, revolting in the greatest to see, or even think, of the many dirty, despicable drugs being indulged in by the “druggies”. These drugs, and their infatuated worshippers, present a major obstacle for the nice, clean, hard-working American peoples living normal lives throughout the U.S. Not simply an obstacle, no, but a parasite that is taking advantage of the people who, bored or stressed in their current lives, just want something that can give them a “rush,” or something to let them escape from reality.

Drug addiction to both, illegal and legal substances has had a significant impact on society and culture in the United States for over a century. The United States failed drug policies have helped to create an epidemic of addiction, to both illicit substances and prescription medication, that claims the lives of thousands of users every year. The film Requiem for a Dream, presents a surreal look at how illegal and prescription drugs, can destroy lives. The film focuses on a Harry, his mother, his friend and his lover, in Brooklyn, NY. Each of them discover the bleakness and unending pain that accompanies addiction. The era of the movie is indiscernible, but the tragedies are exceptionally relevant to the ongoing drug problem we face today.

The piece of media I chose to write my analysis paper on is the movie Wolf of Wall Street. I selected this movie because I felt it showed many different types of drug use, and the impact drugs can have on an individual’s life. The movie is about a stock broker names Jordan Belfort, who begins his career selling penny stocks for a low-level brokerage firm. Jordan eventually opens his own firm and makes it big by scamming customers out of money. Over the course of the movie Jordan uses many different types of drug for recreational use, which ultimately destroys his successful career and lifestyle as a Wall Street stock broker. The movie was released on December 25, 2013 and was directed by Martin Scorsese. In my opinion, I feel the movies main purpose was for pure entertainment.