EMCEE: A quick word from movie producer Kirk Drugless before we roll today's annotated clips about drug-related biases in Hollywood. Kirk?
KIRK DRUGLESS: Thank you, Larry (or whatever). Ladies and Gentlemen.
The more upset that one becomes about drug prohibition, the harder it is to find movies that one can watch without becoming infuriated by drug-war agitprop. I'm beginning to notice that the subject of drugs arises in all sorts of movies, even those which are generally thought to have nothing to do with drugs. This latter kind of propaganda is the worst in a way, because it gives the viewer the idea that drug use is so wrong that one's scorn of the practice does not even require elaboration or justification. One can just trash "drugs" in passing and human beings are expected to naturally resonate with that disdain. It seems to have occurred to none of these dogmatic haters that the drugs that we think of as being "misused" by underage hedonists could be used for endless beneficial reasons by responsible adults. America has yet to learn the truth noted by Thomas Szasz, which is the story of my life as an unnecessarily depressed member of the human race, namely that:
The laws that deny healthy people 'recreational' drugs also deny sick people 'therapeutic' drugs.1
EMCEE: Good points, Mr. Drugless. And now, Ladies and Gentlemen --
KIRK: Then there is the whole genre of movies that the streaming service Canela describes as "Narco Dramas" in which Hispanics are cast as scumbags for selling the divine plant of the Inca , or else we are taught to "hate on" those shifty Asians and Russians who attempt to supply the world with the plant medicine that has been considered a panacea since the time of Galen , which is to say opium. No doubt these suppliers are to blame for yielding to the enormous financial temptation that we have knowingly placed before them, but I reserve my real disdain for those who incentivized all their violence and torture in the first place , those hypocritical gun-loving beer drinkers who then used that custom-made violence to justify a full-scale assault on democratic values, including the abrogation of the Bill of Rights whenever a court case has anything to do with the modern fetish called "drugs." Indeed, America no longer even needs a court case to crack down on its self-made "boogieman." The current regime in Washington now boasts about the fact that it kills suspected drug dealers without so much as a trial, or even the conferring of charges.
EMCEE: Thanks for that excellent introduction, Kirk! I think that everybody--
KIRK DRUGLESS: As one of the hundreds of millions of human beings around the globe who has suffered totally unnecessary depression and/or pain because of this mad superstition about drugs (that drugs are bad in themselves without regard for details), I can no longer sit placidly by as movie characters engage in actions and spout lines that tend to normalize America's unprecedented wholesale assault on Mother Nature, an assault that has been all-too-enthusiastically mimicked by all the less freedom-loving nations around the world, those nations for which the United States was meant to set an example, to be a beacon when it came to freedom and compassion. This is why I have thrown together these annotated film clips, to reveal the extent of the problem of which I speak.
EMCEE: Okay, everybody--
KIRK DRUGLESS: You know, it's funny. The nation that boasted of leading the way against tyrants ended up being be the first nation in history to advocate the wholesale criminalization of Mother Nature, thereby denying we human beings the right to take care of our own health and shunting us off onto expensive, underperforming and dependence-causing "meds," some of which are far harder to kick than heroin.
[pause]
Well, Larry, what you waiting for? Roll the clips.
EMCEE: Oh, yes, of course. Ladies and Gentlemen, we present Hollywood Drug Biases, with commentary by Kirk Drugless!
Clean and Sober 1988
00:08:28 : The cops think it might have been drugs. 00:18:31 : When you return, you'll again be tested for drugs. 00:44:38 : Peluso. He said you gave his daughter drugs. 00:54:37 : Drugs. Lots of drugs. 01:00:07 : You do any drugs while Lenny was away?
This piece of Christian Science agitprop appeared at the height of drug hysteria, when Nancy Reagan was honoring kids who turned in their parents for using Mother Nature's meds. Keaton does his bit to ensure that I never get to use godsend medicines.
Jack Whitehall At Large 2017
00:09:32 : Don't do drugs, kids. That's not what I'm saying. 00:37:30 : Not drugs, drugs. I mean, drugs like sleeping pill drugs.
And now your local comedian is doing his bit to cause us to think of godsend medicines as appealing to hedonists only.
Noriega: God's Favorite! 2000
00:13:56 : Drugs. Drugs. 00:14:11 : ...in the war against drugs. 00:37:02 : ...for drugs. 00:37:59 : ...yet you consume 64 percent of the drugs. 00:40:33 : ...from narcotraffickers allowing drugs to pass through Panama.
December 20th is a Day of Mourning in Panama. The media's cleaned up the invasion for public consumption in the States. Bush violated all international norms, but Republicans have no interest in principles, only in outcomes.
The Ungodly 2007
00:38:14 : Put your hands apart. 00:38:16 : Get 'em up. Get over here. 00:38:20 : You got any weapons on you? 00:38:21 : No. 00:38:22 : Any drugs? No drugs? 00:38:24 : No.
01:20:29 : - Drugs. - I don't do drugs anymore. I'm clean. 01:20:36 : Drugs make you lie. That's what they do.
More attempts to paint drug use as drug abuse. This is why Americans have to go without substances that have been considered panaceas since the time of Galen, because movies like "The Vanished" portray "drugs" as a catchall term for "evil."
Mississippi Grind 2015
00:21:57 : Meth-head with a knife. 00:21:59 : He stabs me in the gut. See?
So-called 'meth' was popped by millions of white Americans in the '40s and '50s and now we're programmed to see meth users as non-persons, defined by their use. Why not demonize Beer Heads and Med Heads while we're at it?
The Dirty South 2023
00:51:28 : And one day my mama had enough 00:51:31 : and she finally called the cops, he was busted. 00:51:34 : And she bought that Chevelle off some meth head
I paraphrase the narrator in The Horla by Maupassant: "The populace is an imbecile flock of sheep, now steadily patient, and now in ferocious revolt. Say to it: 'Amuse yourself,' and it amuses itself. Say to it: 'Hate drugs,' and it hates drugs."
Cold Pursuit 2019
00:23:57 : I want you to know... 00:23:59 : I had no hand in this. 00:24:09 : I say make them all legal. 00:24:12 : Meth, ex, opium. 00:24:16 : An opium den in every mall, that's my platform.
Why do actors like Liam Neeson star in such agitprop? Meth is just a pejorative term for a drug that whites popped like candy in the '40s and '50s. And opium dens were "disappeared" in the early 20th century so that we could punish the hated Chinese.
Enter the Dragon 1973
01:12:58 : Opium. 01:13:03 : We are investing in corruption, Mr. Roper. 01:13:07 : The business of corruption is like any other.
Corruption? Oliver Wendell Holmes said that God himself prescribes opium, since we see the poppy "growing in the cornfields as if it were foreseen that wherever there is hunger to be fed there must also be pain to be soothed."
Fade to Black 2006
00:11:13 : How did he die? Was it his heart? 00:11:15 : He takes too much drugs. 00:11:17 : Really? 00:11:20 : We find this in his coat. In the dressing room. 00:11:25 : It was opium. Very strong, very pure. 00:11:28 : Well, he didn't seem under the influence when I spoke to him. 00:11:31 : He was addicted many years. 00:11:33 : It's an overdose. 00:11:35 : What?
William Brereton writes: "Although an overdose of opium may cause death, the mere smoking of the drug in any quantity will not do so." "Addicted" is also misused here as a synonym for "dependent." Med-dependency is considered a good thing in America.
For Your Eyes Only 1981
01:17:04 : Raw opium. 01:17:07 : An old smugglers' trick. Kristatos knows them all.
Imagine movies without drug prohibition. Scriptwriters would be desperate to find believable ways to introduce violence into daily life. It's almost as if drug prohibition was created for the express purpose of providing exciting cinema.
Hair 1979
00:15:28 : l think we can help you. 00:15:32 : Hashish 00:15:37 : Cocaine 00:15:42 : Marijuana 00:15:46 : Opium 00:15:49 : LSD 00:15:51 : DMT 00:15:54 : STP 00:15:55 : BMT
This exception proves the rule about the cinematic censorship of beneficial drug use. What we need by way of PR is a movie featuring an outwardly conformist writer who smokes opium for inspiration and to facilitate philosophical chats with neighbors.
Muzzle 2023
01:23:55 : There’s a new opium war. 01:23:57 : The Chinese smuggle that shit to Mexico, 01:23:58 : and the cartels flood 01:23:59 : that shit up though the border.
And the Drug Warriors criminalize that shit and blame all their social problems on that shit and use that shit as an excuse to destroy American liberties including freedom of academia, freedom of religion and sovereignty over our own minds and bodies.
Personal Best 1982
00:36:15 : Opium. 00:36:16 : Opium? - He wants her to smoke a little bit. 00:36:17 : What do you think he's trying to do? 00:36:19 : She's got food poisoning and cramps. 00:36:20 : - It's going to relax her. - It's fine.
How refreshing! This reminds me of William James' letter to his dying sister: "Take all the morphia you want, and don't be afraid of becoming an opium-drunkard. What was opium created for except for such times as this?"
The Far Side of Jericho 2006
00:48:28 : Better. 00:48:30 : At least she's not peeling anymore. 00:48:32 : And the fever is down. 00:48:57 : What's this? 00:49:00 : Comanche opium.
"Comanche opium" is peyote. And American Drug Warriors to this very day are trying to stop Native Americans from accessing that cactus, even for religious purposes.
The Glass Menagerie 1987
00:30:52 : I am going to the movies. 00:30:54 : I don't believe that lie! 00:30:56 : No? 00:30:59 : Well, you're right, mother. 00:31:02 : I'm going to opium dens. 00:31:04 : Yes, mother. Opium dens. 00:31:07 : Dens of vice and criminals' hangouts.
Tom Wingfield is trying to get a rise out of his protective "belle" of a mother by painting himself as black as possible, and what better way to do that, thought Tennessee Williams, than to have Tom pretend to be a fan of that evil Chinese opium!!!
The Kentucky Fried Movie 1977
00:26:34 : Here, doctor Klahn has built his fortress. 00:26:37 : Klahn? 00:26:38 : Yes. He has been connected 00:26:40 : with every sort of nefarious activity: 00:26:44 : Opium, weapons traffick, assassination, 00:26:47 : motion picture distribution... 00:26:49 : And global extortion.
These lines are from the "Feature Presentation" called "A Fistful of Yen" by Abrahams and the Zucker brothers. To paraphrase the villain of the piece, the Magnificent Leader, Dr. Klahn: "It was a film of extraordinary magnitude. They have our gratitude."
EMCEE: Kirk Drugless will sign autographs during the credit roll.
WOMAN: Kirk, would you sign a copy of your script for my brother?
KIRK DRUGLESS: And who's your brother?
WOMAN: Just put "Bob Wilson," please. You see, Bob's actually a DEA agent and I want to see the look on his face when he sees your signature.
KIRK DRUGLESS: Let's see here, "Bob... 'needs a new job right now'... Wilson." There you go, lady.
WOMAN: Awesome!
Notes for essay entitled Lights, Camera, Drug War!: excerpts from your favorite drug-bashing films:
According to Donald Trump's view of life, Jesus Christ was a chump. We should hate our enemies, not love them.
Conservatives say they're against Big Government -- but they let bureaucrats decide what medicines they can use.
Self-medication is not a dirty word. It has always been a fundamental right to take care of one's own health -- until the medical establishment demonized the practice for obvious financial reasons.
And so, by ignoring all "up" sides to drugs, the DEA points to potential addiction as a knock-down argument for their prohibition. This is the logic of children (and uneducated children at that). It is a cost-benefit analysis that ignores all benefits.
Properly speaking, MDMA has killed no one at all. Prohibitionists were delighted when Leah Betts died because they were sure it was BECAUSE of MDMA/Ecstasy. Whereas it was because of the fact that prohibitionists refuse to teach safe use.
In the 19th century, poets got together to use opium "in a series of magnificent quarterly carouses" (as per author Richard Middleton). When we outlaw drugs, we outlaw free expression.
The DEA should be tried for crimes against humanity. They have been lying about drugs for 50 years and running interference between human beings and Mother Nature in violation of natural law, depriving us of countless potential and known godsends in order to create more DEA jobs.
Just think how much money bar owners in the Old West would have saved on restoration expenses if they had served MDMA instead of whiskey.
Chesterton might as well have been speaking about the word 'addiction' when he wrote the following: "It is useless to have exact figures if they are exact figures about an inexact phrase."
Being a lifetime patient is not the issue: that could make perfect sense in certain cases. But if I am to be "using" for life, I demand the drug of MY CHOICE, not that of Big Pharma and mainstream psychiatry, who are dogmatically deaf to the benefits of hated substances.
Break the ice with a sledgehammer: place this book on your coffee table.
This book features 150 annotated images, designed to force brainwashed Americans to confront the fact that drug prohibition is wrong. Here is what author Richard Parrish II says of the book's compiler: "The drug prohibition philosopher provides first-hand, principled, persuasive, and insightful arguments against the current drug prohibition regime..."
This is the only full-cast recording of Aleister Crowley's 1922 classic paeon to common sense. It is the first book -- and so far almost the only book -- to stake out a philosophy of drug use that is compatible with human freedom, one in which we learn to use drugs as wisely as possible for the benefit of humanity. This recording was produced by the Drug War Philosopher and your purchases help support his effort to push back against the tragically counterproductive policy of drug prohibition, in the name of human freedom and of humanity's right to heal.
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Unless otherwise indicated, no AI is used in the creation of site content. These essays represent the original ideas of their author and not the ideas that the author SHOULD have based on an algorithmic parsing of existing data. For more on this subject, consider the AI-related viewpoints to which the author subscribes as delineated in the New York Times opinion piece entitled "What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity" by Rebecca Winthrop of the Brookings Institution.
EMCEE: A quick word from movie producer Kirk Drugless before we roll today's annotated clips about drug-related biases in Hollywood. Kirk?
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