The House I Live In

A smart exposure of what we all already knew - the war on drugs is a war on black people, the new Jim Crow. This film shows how at every level - police, judges, politicians, public, media, big business perpetuate the enslavement of 500,000 Americans for private profit.

When it comes to the 'war on drugs' topic, look no further. This doc covers it all and then some. It meticulously combs through every single aspect of why this program is a complete and utter failure. One that is only destroying the lives of millions of Americans and helping nobody except the racketeers of the prison industrial complex. All paid for by the taxpayer's dime. It goes beyond definitions that words like 'vile', 'villainous, and 'cruel' can describe. A war on the poor indeed.

It's a well made doc with some eye opening moments, some rehashing of the same historical points made in any doc about drugs, and some surprisingly candid interviews with people involved on both sides of the issue. But I feel like this doc sits in a place that isn't really giving me much. Yes it has personal stories, but they're really just about creating a mosaic. On the flip side it talks about the system, but in broad strokes that just make you shake your head. It's an overview, nothing more.

A documentary of an important issue that ought to be front and center in our national debate.

The activist (usually from the left) documentary has been popular for more than a decade now. Some are well made, some are not. This is one of the well made ones. Yet the questions still remain. Does it do much more than preach to the choir? How can it actually affect change in a world where you pick your opinions first and just ignore the unpleasant truths that challenge them?

"A powerful indictment of a program that has decimated communities, cost taxpayers roughly a trillion dollars, and hasn't reduced the amount of drugs being consumed one iota." - Andrew Schenker

Oh, this is something!

An excellently-delivered and persuasive condemnation of the war on drugs.

The industrialisation of First World class genocide by means of the War on Drugs and the private prison industry.

I expected something more factual and less sentimental. You don't have to play up emotions in a subject like this. The facts should speak for themselves.

Welcome to Capitalism! Any seasoned doco watcher will get a double up of information here, but then this one goes deep. Stops short of pinning the system as a conspiratorial pre-planned one, more of a falling into place of the various institutions, supporting each other through the economics of bureaucracy. We should get used to this kind of draconian societal dredging, it's raw & it's cold but it is also a proven way to sustain employment. That & it's entrenched, so, game over.

Having studied drug policy heavily in college, little of the information presented was new to me. That said, it did a great job of synthesizing a lot of the most important aspects of the drug war and presenting it in a truthful, yet moving manner. If you want to understand drug and crime policy, watch The Wire. If you don't have time for that, make time. Then watch this.

In this doc about the war on drugs, director Jarecki chooses to illustrate the complexities of the issue via personal stories of the effects of drugs on individual lives. The technique works far better than a barrage of statistics would have. I wish Jarecki had spent more than a couple of minutes looking forward into the future--he suggests a few solutions, but fails to provide detail. The film's historical sections, looking at the rise and criminalization of opium, are among the most compelling

A heartbreaking look at a huge and complex problem within America.

A thorough but one-sided documentary that relies heavily on conspiracy theories. A political pamphlet, perhaps.

Focuses too much on Jarecki's personal life and only gets to the good stuff in the last 30 minutes or so. The War on Drugs is an important issue but as a whole the documentary doesn't have much new to say about it.

What starts off as a conventional dissection of the drug war ends in an explosive third act, proving point by point how we in America have all but assured a new "Holocaust in slow motion." A very powerful look at the systemic problems with the "drug war" and the havoc it wreaks in poor communities across the nation.

This documentary should be mandatory in schools in USA. It doesn't take a genius to realize that drug laws make no sense, but I'm sure learning the extent of the mess in the American drug laws will be surprising to many. Not that people have much more sense elsewhere in the world. Important documentary with good balance of information and personal, emotional stories.

Shows how the drug war is completely flawed in America and needs to change. Never knew it was this bad. Damn. And that psychology teacher is daaaaaaamn sexy, ohdamn

Interesting documentary. +10 for David Simon. I want to watch The Wire again...

And that house, boys and girls, was made of crack.

Spends most of its duration making a case on how America's war on drugs is based on race, before finally concluding that, no, it's just poor, unemployed people who often end up doing and dealing them. If it had focused on the legislation argument as a whole - or simply concentrated on the unjust prison tariffs - it could've been a worthy watch. Some decent titbits within but as it is there are much better docs on the subject out there: ones that don't descend into full-blown conspiracy theories.

Just watch the Wire. You get basically the same info but in a more engrossing and emotionally touching way.

A fresh and honest look at what the 'war on drugs' has done and is doing to us. It offers many questions, but doesn't give a whole lot of answers. In this paucity of solutions is the terrifying reality that we are losing.