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Finished in November 2006:

Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey

Sometimes breaking the law is the only way to uphold it

Conceptafilm recently finished production on a feature documentary, in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada, a film about cops who are against the drug war. (Official Press Release)

Cops Say 'No' to the War on Drugs

After 30 years of drug war, illegal narcotics are decreasing in price, increasing in purity and demand continues to surge. The heroes of this film are veterans of the drug war and they urge us to consider ending drug prohibition. They have had a complete revolution in their thinking. Now they are working to end the War on Drugs. Find out what happened to change their minds.

Viewing this film may change your answers to these questions: Should law enforcement officers be expected to enforce laws that don't make sense? What happens if the police don't believe in the laws? What if nobody believes in them?

Does drug prohibition actually do more harm than drug use?

Our primary characters, all current or former law enforcement officers, say that as much as 80% of all felony crime is caused by drug addiction prohibition. "Legalize, regulate and tax" is their mantra now. Our heroes believe that all illicit drugs should be under the control of government, not left in the hands of criminals.

Let's meet a few of these mavericks:

Peter Christ retired as a police captain after a 20-year career enforcing the drug laws. Peter originated the idea of creating LEAP: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "What we come together at in LEAP is on the fact that prohibition has to end."

Frank Serpico; legend, former NYC cop. Took a bullet in the face for exposing corruption in his own department. "I think it's time to stop the hypocrisy."

John Gayder is a constable with the Niagara Parks Police Department in Niagara Falls, Ontario. He
cannot represent his employer in our film. "Throughout my career I've seen nothing that would lead me to believe that our current approaches to narcotics work. They're not effective; in fact, they're making things worse."

Norm Stamper, former Chief of Police in Seattle, Washington. "As with all wars, number one you have to have an enemy. That enemy turns out to be our fellow citizens."

Terry Nelson is a 32 year veteran of Border and Customs Patrol, which eventually became part of
Homeland Security. "Each year we would seize or assist in seizing mega-ton loads of cocaine, and it
was making absolutely no difference."

Howard Wooldridge drove highway patrol in Michigan for 18 years. During the summer of 2005,
he rode his horse Misty across America to protest the drug war. Howard says: "I want to educate Americans as to the full range of the unintended consequences of this policy of drug prohibition."

Tony Smith was a cop in Vancouver for 28 years."We can give the drug industry to three groups of people: we can give it to private enterprise, we can give it to the government, or we can give it to the criminals. And we've made the worst choice, we've given it to the criminals."

Judge Jim Gray is a former drug warrior; he held the record for the largest drug prosecution in the central district of California in Los Angeles. "What you need to do with regard to the criminal justice system, is to hold people accountable for what they do: hold people accountable for their actions, instead of for what they put into their bodies."

Walter McKay walked a beat on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver for 12 years. Now he's
working on a PhD in the Philosophy of Law Enforcement Ethics. Walter says: "We were making
anywhere from 8 to 11 arrests a night. And did we make a difference? Did we win the drug war? We
didn't do anything."

Senator Larry Campbell, former Mayor of Vancouver, former Coroner, former drug cop. A Canadian icon. "Let's legalize marijuana. Let's just legalize it, OK?"

Jay Fleming was an undercover narcotics officer in the Northwest States for 12 years. Jay says:
"Undercover is a dirty, nasty, business. You have to get to know someone, you get to know their family. Then you have to go back and destroy that family."

Cele Castillo is a 20-year veteran of state and federal law enforcement, having served 12-years with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Cele was the whistle-blower in the Iran-Contra Affair. Now his own son is in trouble with the law for getting caught with a roach in his ashtray. "I strongly believed, and I put my life on the line, that I would make a difference. And obviously that was not what it was all about."

Find more info about this documentary and the people feature at www.drugwarodyssey.com

An imX communications and National Film Board of Canada Co-Production