The FBI's Anti-Drug "Chasing The Dragon"

"Chasing The Dragon" (screened at the Keystone theater, Towanda, PA in early June) is an anti-drug documentary produced through the office of the FBI director James Comey. It shows, in vivid detail, the tragedies of seven families resulting from addictions to opioid drugs, typically initiated by prescription OxyContin, and escalating to other opioids, usually heroin. Most of the victims are teens and young adults; two appear to be in their thirties or early forties. Two of the young adults died from overdoses. One died a few days after spending 7 months in rehab.

I deliberately referred to the subjects of this deeply flawed documentary as victims because that is exactly what they are--victims of our failed multi-decade, trillion dollar (and counting) War on Drugs. The War on Drugs has not only failed, it has exacerbated the problem. Our problems with addictive substances would be far less if the War had never existed.

The message of the documentary seems to be a continuation of Nancy Reagan's ridiculous "Just Say No" campaign with the added message that if you continue your miserable addicted life, we'll add to your problems with incarceration, a crime record, and little else. It's just more of the same failed strategy, regardless of any recent rhetoric to the contrary.

There were no recommendations other than opioids are addictive, and if you use them, you will get addicted, and if you get addicted, you're screwed. No recommendations about harm-reduction or other science-based treatments. Only arrest and incarceration, just as it has been for decades.

It also attempts to show marijuana as a gateway drug to heroin when this has been shown to be false. Some marijuana users move to opioids; most do not. Also shown are injection sites that were ulcerated and infected, but it doesn't make clear that these are caused by dirty needles and adulterated drugs. Injecting heroin in sterile conditions with pharmaceutical grade heroin under medical supervision is a non-life-threatening issue. In fact, it is one of several harm-reduction methods.

Victims of addictive substances will do anything to get these substances if they are not available legally. They will cheat, steal, sell themselves, destroy relationships with family and with friends to get what they need for their addiction. The documentary shows this very vividly and clearly. The victims are desperate and miserable. The documentary only shows how to continue the victims desperation and misery.

Until all drugs are decriminalized and regulated, and the victims of addictions are treated as medical problems with science-based programs, the U.S. will continue wasting tens of billions of dollars each year making our drug addiction problems worse.

John L. Ferri

Links:
- Consumer Union's Licit and Illicit Drugs
- Chasing The Scream, Johann Hari
- Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic, Sam Quinones
- Letter-to-editor