Here's a link to IMDB for anyone who'd like to look these up on there: IMDB
If you're using the YouTube Application to watch something, if you hover in the top right corner until the settings cog and others appear, the CC icon stands for Closed Captions, so if you click on that, it'll show you a transcript, a bit like subtitles, so you can read what's being said. It does get words wrong sometimes, but it can still be useful.
The 13th (2016) 1 hr 40 minute documentary
This is a detailed look at the various struggles of black people in American society. It lays bare the lack of incentive for structural change to address these injustices, and frighteningly, the incentive to sustain them. This is available on Netflix, but was made available by them to YouTube
Click link to watch on YouTube:
The 13th
Crack, Cocaine, Corruption and Conspiracy
(2021) 1 hour 29 minutes
An examination of the crack epidemic that emerged in the 1980s US, while under the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Much like the opioids crisis, it disproportionately affected and continues to affect black communities as part of a policy designed to directly target them. It examines the social and environmental reasons for people using the drug and the condemnation and lack of help that ensued. It looks at the way crack and cocaine, the same thing, were judged differently due to who was taking them and because of the risk to health and the sheer lengths of prison sentences, the absolute devastation these laws created.
Click link to watch on Netflix:
Dopesick (2022) 8 x 1 hour episodes
This mini-series takes a startlingly look at the extent of the opioids crisis in America, and the blatant lies that were told in order to market it. It has been renewed for a second season I believe. It's actually produced and starring Michael Keaton, aka the best Batman that wasn't Adam West! Although it's a dramatization, it's based on a non-fiction book, so much of it is true.
Click link to watch on Disney plus:
Dopesick
Fight The Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World (2023)
4 x 60 minute episodes
A look from the 1960s onwards at race struggles in America and how these have influenced music and cultural change. Needless to say, the War of Drugs and the demonization of black people features heavily.
Grass is Greener (2019). 1 hour 37 minutes.
As you may have gathered, this documentary is about cannabis specifically, beginning again with racist origins, but taking the element of social control further by highlighting it's use at oppressing not just black people but creatives and non-conformists, a prime example during the Richard Nixon era being anti-vietnam protestors. It actually includes an excerpt from The Nixon Tapes (audio recordings that were made and later discovered from while he was president.
Painkiller (2023) 6 x 45-60 minute episodes
If you've seen Dopesick, this limited series from Netflix about Purdue Pharma, The Sackler family and the OxyContin crisis won't offer you many surprises. There are fictionalized characters in this too, but key facts and relevant parties are represented accurately. And to remind you it's not make believe, each episodes opens with a short monologue from someone who was directly effected. I found this worth a look in it's own right.
The Wisdom of Trauma (2021) 1 hour 27 minutes
I was talking to a lady who works in Trauma and Addiction and she recommended a documentary made by Gabor Mate entitled 'The Wisdom of Trauma'. I'm very glad she did, as it's an hour and a half long but discusses human behaviour and addictions in a logical way. Even in the case of hard drugs that can cause long-term harm, there's a strong argument that they are the best coping mechanism for that particular point in time. There is also a section discussing a compassionate prison system which we both found of interest. The documentary is available to watch for a donation, but it is also available for free for those unable to donate.
Here is a link to watch it: