Netflix’s original documentary “Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy” did more to tell the story of Ronald Reagan, the war on drugs and who was impacted more than any other documentary before.
Directed by Nelson George, the documentary spoke past users, politicians, activists and more the film is a complete deep dive into how the war on drugs turned into a war on drug users with the people importing the drugs facing very little consequence
Aside from Ronald Reagan’s role in the drug trade, the film hit on a few more points that I feel should be remembered.
Drug Lord: How Ronald Reagan Became A Trapper
Atlantabis Clothing tries to tell the story of Ronald Reagan and his role in making drugs accessible in inner-city communities through its “Drug Lord” collection. “Crack” took the story way further. Nelson George did a great job drawing a direct line to the Reagan administration and how they put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people.
Reagan and the CIA became teammates with the Contras and knowingly assisted in a drugs for guns trade that ultimately became a problem all of us.
Without taking any responsibility, his administration turned people into drug addicts. True Drug Lord life.
What Was The Iran-Contra Affair?
In short, it was treason. The long version is much more complicated.
A part of American history that has been told several times in movies and television, yet many people still don’t know what actually happened. The Iran-Contra affair happened during Reagan’s second term in office. His administration went around the senate and facilitated the sale of guns to the Islamic Republic of Iran. They hoped to use the funds to help out the Contra’s in Nicaragua. Why was all this important? Well, first off, it was treason!
The administration did this deal after the deal was prohibited by the senate already. It was a big “no.” Yet, they moved forward anyway, something that should’ve got Reagan impeached and possibly in prison.
Second, it spurred a flood of cocaine coming across the U.S. border. The Nicaraguans we’re being paid by the Columbians as well to move cocaine across the borders!
Former contract analyst for the CIA David MacMichael said it best,
“Once you set up a covert operation to supply arms and money, it’s very difficult to separate it from the kind of people who are involved in other forms of trade, and especially drugs. There is a limited number of planes, pilots and landing strips. By developing a system for supply of the Contras, the US built a road for drug supply into the US.”
These drugs would flood the market, dropping the price and making more people drug dealers and users. While police would later be empowered to shut down the scourge of drugs and lock up the drug dealers, I can hear the late great
Nino Brown’s voice “We don’t own no poppy fields in Harlem…..this is bigger than Nino Brown”
George Bush & The Grand Show
Show of hands, how many people are old enough to remember when then-President George H. Bush held a press conference inside the oval office to show off a bag of crack? I do. I totally remembered when that happened. Growing up in the 80’s, drug sales were very prevalent in my neighborhood. I had seen crack with my own two eyes plenty of times before I witnessed it on t.v. Getting your hands on crack wasn’t a hard thing to do.
George Bush showed us. Prior to the recording, Bush sent a member of the secret service out to the mean streets of Washington D.C., where crack ran rampant, and back an ounce. Simple as that. He walked outside, purchased crack, went inside the White House with the crack to give to George Bush so he could make his point. He was going to be the President to get “tough on crime.”
His first show of toughness, having the man who sold the drugs to the secret service was arrested.
The Myth of the “Crack Baby”
Women hopped up on crack making babies born addicted to the drug. A story that was told on repeat during the 80’s was that crack users were giving birth to crack babies. As seen in the documentary, Black women primarily were put in positions where they could lose their children just for admitting that they have used crack.
The truth is, multiple studies have shown that prenatal use of crack cocaine has little to no effect on long-term child development.
Who’s Toughest On Crime
Another great point “Crack” makes is how at one point, the one thing that everyone could agree on was, the crime in the inner city was too much. Too many deaths by gun fire or overdosing were making everyone fed up.
As a politician, this would almost be like throwing meat to a lion. Knowing what the majority of the country was thinking, every political candidate worth anything was the “tough on crime” candidate. At one point, politicians were trying to “out tough” each other when it comes to how to handle crime. It’s honestly how we even got the notorious 1986 anti-drug abuse law and the 1994 crime bill.
If you weren’t trying to lock up every drug dealer and user, you weren’t saying anything during that time.