Underplayed Gems

Raw Opium (2011)

Raw Opium poster
Directed by
Peter Findlay
Genre
documentary film
Country
Canada
Runtime
1h 23m
Rating
8.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary travels to several countries to look at the opium trade. It shows the people involved in growing, selling, and fighting the drug, and it questions common ideas about addiction and drug policy.

informativesoberglobalthought-provokinginvestigativeneutraleducationalserious

What happens

Raw Opium is a 2011 documentary film produced by Robert Lang of Kensington Communications, directed by Peter Findlay and written by Peter Findlay and Robert Lang. The documentary examines the worldwide opium trade and the vast criminal and public health issues that have arisen from it. Raw Opium is a journey around the world and through time, where conflicting forces do battle over the narcotic sap of the opium poppy. From an opium master in southeast Asia to a UN drug enforcement officer on the border of Afghanistan hunting down the smugglers of Central Asia; from a former Indian government Drug Czar and opium farmer to a crusading Vancouver doctor and Portuguese street worker who daily confront the realities of drug addiction. Shown is the pivotal role that has been played by the opium poppy, not just in the lives of people who grow, manufacture and use it, but also in the increasingly-tense sphere of international relations. In the process, assumptions about addiction and the war on drugs are challenged. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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