How to Make Money Selling Drugs

‘Drugs used to be legal. Heroin, cocaine… everything. Until about a hundred years ago, when America appointed Harry Anslinger as head Commissioner of Narcotics for the first time. In his report to the Senate, Anslinger detailed why drugs must be outlawed: “There are one hundred thousand marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. It causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and others.” Anslinger’s popularity soared with voters, and law makers began outlawing drugs.’ – How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2012)

A documentary with this title isn’t necessarily something you would take seriously. No one expects to see an actual, self proclaimed ‘How-to’ instructional video about how to become a highly profitable drug dealer.

Yet, this polished offering from director Matthew Cooke really does start to invite shifty ideas into your head early on. Several real life, unbelievably rich men share at length how they achieved their own version of the American dream by selling mass amounts of marijuana, cocaine, crack, and countless other illegal substances; every day, for many years, for even more money. We’re talking around AUS $1000 an hour in this $400 billion worldwide industry. And they make it sound pretty easy – at first.

In this reviewer’s opinion, by far one of the most captivating protagonists in this dark portrait of America is Barry Cooper, a former police drug agent from Texas. He was making hundreds of arrests every year. One day, he says, he thought to himself: ‘I’m making three or four arrests for marijuana a day….there’s gotta be something in this’. He went home and smoked marijuana for the first time, and says ‘I loved it’. He transformed into an activist almost overnight, campaigning for the rights of thousands of Americans who are regularly mistreated by law enforcers for drug related offences. He knows that many cops break the law to bust drug takers – not least because he used to do it himself. Cooper married his drug dealer, and has three kids with her today. They’re a proud and happy family. ‘I’m not going to use our energy to try to change the minds of the old Americans that made the laws and expect us to live under those laws. I’m going to use our energy to rally the masses who already get it,’ he says. This sums up the spirit of the whole film.

There are plenty more extremely interesting (and alarming) facts shared. Not least surprising is that the American government rakes in around $3 billion a year in confiscated drug money. Most of that is poured into warfare and prison funding. Coincidence much that drugs are still illegal?

In addition to the laws first passed thanks to Harry Anslinger (quoted at the start of this review), Richard Nixon later successfully linked drugs with homosexuality in much the same way. It’s a big eye opener to realise that drugs are illegal for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with drugs themselves or what they do to people. They’ve been used as a weak excuse for political racism, homophobia and bigotry.

The filmmakers have done a pretty good job of showing all the information in a balanced light too – policemen, detectives, academics, journalists and lawyers (some former, others still in the job) all have a lot to say, as well as the aforementioned drug dealers. Given, most of them are on the same side, but enough cold hard facts are given to keep the film fairly impartial. Facts themselves are neutral – you make up your own mind about what opinion you want to have on them.

There are also lots of celebrity cameos to keep you interested too, in case you’re not the type that wants to hear from intelligent nobodies the whole time. 50 Cent, Eminem, and Woody Harrelson are some, plus the wonderful Susan Sarandon who unashamedly states: ‘Some [drugs] can kill you the first time you try them, and other ones are really fun, and someone’s lying to you if they say they’re not’.

Portugal legalised the use of recreational drugs in 2000, and it overwhelmingly seems to have been successful – its crime and HIV rates have dropped significantly since that year.

America and Australia have a lot to learn, not just from places like Portugal, but from their own mistakes and tragedies, such as the young man who died in Sydney last week at a festival after popping what was likely a day’s worth of drugs, in an attempt to avoid being caught by sniffer dogs.

Having said that, however, more people die worldwide from tobacco-related diseases than anything else. Add together the number of deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, road accidents, alcohol, murder, and every illegal drug you can think of; tobacco still tops them all. So it’s pretty obvious drugs are not illegal because the government cares about anyone’s health. This is another fact How to Make Money Selling Drugs shares with you. 

This film is certainly a win for the Sydney Underground Film Festival. It’s a fresh look at an issue that is really quite stale because of how long it’s been around. Further, it will remain relevant until the western world begins to think outside the box about illicit drugs, and how they treat people who take them.

At more than an hour and a half long, this is an exhausting watch with so many facts and figures being thrown at you – but it’s well worth sticking out. How to Make Money Selling Drugs is done well; it’s made with lots of real life stories, which a lot more people should know about.

Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5