Richard Branson's 'Breaking The Taboo' Aims To Stop The War On Drugs
Aviation and music tycoon Sir Richard Branson and his son Sam Branson are no fans of the War on Drugs and they're hoping a new film that they launched on YouTube will do for their cause what An Inconvenient Truth did for the issue of global warming.
Produced through the younger Branson's production company, Sundog Pictures, Breaking the Taboo features a host of notables including former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, other former world leaders as well as experts and other household names in a doc hoping to change hearts and minds about the global war on drugs.
Clinton is shown in the trailer saying the War on Drugs, which has cost billions and jailed thousands in the U.S. alone, "hasn't worked."
Morgan Freeman narrates the English version of the pic, the trailer of which opens with Richard Nixon's proclamation ushering in the U.S. War on Drugs. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal narrates the Spanish version of the film, which has its trailer available on YouTube. The site indicated the full-length Breaking the Taboo will bow December 7th.
"I am hoping in the same way that Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth opened people's eyes to global warming issues…, Branson told The Guardian. This film will open people's eyes on the war on drugs and the failed war on drugs and make it easier for people who want to be brave and do something about it."
Sam Branson said the film will head to YouTube because of its "potential to reach millions. Both Branson look to countries such as Portugal and Spain where drug users receive treatment as opposed to jail time as providing an example. Sir Richard calls the legalization of marijuana as "inevitable" and added that most in power secretly agree with him.
"I have hardly ever come across a politician that won't say – off the record – what needs to be done...in the end they just need to be brave."
Washington and Colorado voted to legalize marijuana in the most recent election and the U.N. general assembly voted to hold a special session on drugs in 2016. Obama is also seen in the film before being elected saying that a change is needed, though he has held the line on decriminalization earlier this year.
"We would be hopeful that in a second term Obama intends at the very least to start treating drugs as a healthcare problem, not a criminal problem," said Sir Richard Branson.
Check out the trailer below:
[Source: The Guardian]
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Comments
ironic that this is airing on the same date as Pearl Harbor. I have a Masters degree and work in the social services field for a non-profit agency. TIme after time when I provide counseling in the local prison the saga is the same, another incacerated on drug related charges, the jail is full and the care for this "booming population" is minimal at best. My father, a World War II veteran was indeed one of the brightest men I will ever know, his stand on this "war on drugs" was also one of reproach. As you entered his home the sign on his door read " no more wars of any kind, incuding drugs." My father's views drew criticism at the small liberal arts college, but he never waivered his opinion or his right to express it. I found it ironic when my brother came down with 2 stage four cancers that so mnay turned their back on him when he wanted to apply for a medical marijuana card, mt father was still alive when he was diagnosed, but never "caught on" to the ways of the computer. I filled out the application and he now has his card. To my father's memory I leave this comment and to anyone doubting that the war on drugs is absurd, I urge you to watch the film.
Whatever politician is brave enough to lead the charge to end the war on drugs will go down as the greatest leader of the 21st century.
You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.