The Media Lies About Drugs | The War on Drugs

The media has a drug problem, we need to stage an intervention. From 'face-eating cannibals on monkey dust' to people on bath salts 'ripping out their scrotum' to 'crack babies', newspapers keep making up drug stories. Over the past century, large sections of the press have acted as campaigners for the War on Drugs, hyping up drug-scare stories and peddling false narratives. From the ‘crack babies’ hysteria that shook America in the 1980’s to the ‘weed is a gateway drug’ theory, media outlets use shock tactics to sell papers. Reports of ‘zombies’ with ‘superhuman strength’ high on ‘monkey dust’ are not only wildly inaccurate, but they dehumanise some of society’s most vulnerable people. In this episode of The War On Drugs, we debunk some of the media’s biggest drug myths. In War On Drugs, we examine the social implications of prohibition worldwide. Any attempt to shut down the trade in drugs such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine or weed invariably sets off a chain of events that just makes things worse, leaving a trail of death, illness, violence, slavery, addiction, crime and inequality across the globe. Everyone loses – except, in a weird kind of way, the drugs themselves. Watch more from this series: Can Psychedelics Make You Less Depressed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiT15PIelbA&list=PLDbSvEZka6GGanXjSfH1bQNVheppFQWWo&index=13 Debunking Crystal Meth Myths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-VkWkPs1aw&list=PLDbSvEZka6GGanXjSfH1bQNVheppFQWWo&index=12 The War on Drugs is Racist to the Core https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf5qFIpJ2sk&list=PLDbSvEZka6GGanXjSfH1bQNVheppFQWWo&index=11 Click here to subscribe to VICE: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: http://bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vice The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: https://www.youtube.com/VICE MUNCHIES: https://www.youtube.com/MUNCHIES VICE News: https://www.youtube.com/VICENews VICELAND: https://www.youtube.com/VICELANDTV Broadly: https://www.youtube.com/Broadly Noisey: https://www.youtube.com/Noisey Motherboard: https://www.youtube.com/MotherboardTV VICE Sports: https://www.youtube.com/NOC i-D: http://www.youtube.com/iDmagazine Waypoint: https://www.youtube.com/WaypointVICE