War on Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex(1999)

War on Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex Synopsis

The war on drugs has been going on for more than three decades. Today, nearly 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges. In 1980 the number was 50,000. Last year $40 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in fighting the war on drugs. As a result of the incarceration obsession, the United States operates the largest prison system on the planet. Today, 89 percent of police departments have paramilitary units, and 46 percent have been trained by active duty armed forces. The most common use of paramilitary units is serving drug-related search warrants, which usually involve no-knock entries into private homes.

War on Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex (1999) is a documentary film directed by Frank Wiering, released on October 7, 1999 with a runtime of 1h 33m. Viewers rate it 5.2 out of 10 across 2 ratings.