Ever wonder what British Columbia’s most profitable industries are? Logging? Fishing? Tourism? Ever think to include marijuana? If you haven’t, think again. No longer a hobby for the stereotypical hippie culture of the ’60s, BC’s illegal marijuana trade industry has evolved into a seemingly unstoppable business giant, dubbed by those involved as ‘The Union’. Commanding upwards of $7 billion Canad
The war on drugs has been going on for more than three decades. Today, nearly 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges. In 1980 the number was 50,000. Last year $40 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in fighting the war on drugs. As a result of the incarceration obsession, the United States operates the largest prison system on the planet, and the U.S. nonviolent prisoner population is
On the streets it is referred to as Crystal, Ice, and Crank. Methamphetamines are viciously addictive and provide the hyperactivity effects of Cocaine along with the delusional effects of LSD. As opposed to getting a short `high’ from other drugs, this one will keep users pumped up from 6 to 12 hours and create feelings of paranoia, invulnerability, increased strength, euphoria, and may cause some
The story of a ruthless Mexican gang responsible for smuggling huge quantities of cocaine in the 1980s.The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Tijuana or Arellano-Félix Organization or Cártel Arellano Félix - CAF) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel was described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico". The Tijuana Cartel was featured battling the ri
In the late 1980s the Arellano-Felix brothers take over the Tijuana Cartel. Using a network of tunnels, modified cars, boats and planes they flood the US with billions of dollars worth of drugs; quickly establishing themselves as the worlds largest smugglers of cocaine.To protect this business the brothers recruit and train an army of American gang bangers. When rival cartels attempt to muscle
Trench Town is a powerful look into the lives of the children living there. As one boy says, “Every morning as I rise, I hear gunshots firing”. Indeed, as we follow the children to school we can see gunshot filled signs and walls, little shacks ready to collapse, army tanks and car bombs. It is a dangerous risk just to get to school for these kids. Many of the older kids are in gangs because they
HBO's special Warning: This Drug May Kill You is a heartbreaking tale of four families who have all been tragically affected by prescribed opioid addiction, it is an epidemic that is echoed all across the United States, ripping communities apart one addict at a time.It is an epidemic which was fueled by an aggressive 1990's marketing campaign led by Purdue Pharma that promoted the wide
A love of nicotine unites all peoples across the globe, regardless of colour, wealth or creed. Where religion and politics have failed tobacco has succeeded, but at what cost? For over 50 years people have been knowingly paying for the pleasure of tobacco with their lives, making man’s fatal tryst with the cigarette one of the strangest love affairs ever. But as smoking bans in the US and Europe a
For two years CNN has reported from the frontline's of a battle between those who say Marijuana saved their lives, the doctors that want to prove it and federal agencies that have persisted on standing in the way, at stake is the ability to use this plant as a regulated prescription drug. Some say it's the only thing that works for treating them, from PTSD, chronic pain and alz