| Raw Opium | |
| Director: | Peter Findlay |
| Producer: | Robert Lang |
| Distributor: | Kensington Communications |
| Runtime: | 84 minutes |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
Raw Opium is a 2011 documentary film produced by Robert Lang of Kensington Communications, directed by Peter Findlay and written by Peter Findlay and Robert Lang. The documentary examines the worldwide opium trade and the vast criminal and public health issues that have arisen from it.[1]
Raw Opium is a journey around the world and through time, where conflicting forces do battle over the narcotic sap of the opium poppy. From an opium master in southeast Asia to a UN drug enforcement officer on the border of Afghanistan hunting down the smugglers of Central Asia; from a former Indian government Drug Czar and opium farmer to a crusading Vancouver doctor and Portuguese street worker who daily confront the realities of drug addiction.
Shown is the pivotal role that has been played by the opium poppy, not just in the lives of people who grow, manufacture and use it, but also in the increasingly-tense sphere of international relations. In the process, assumptions about addiction and the War on Drugs are challenged.
Christer Brannerud: Project lead, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Tajikistan
Physician, Author, Public Speaker, Vancouver, Canada
Author and Commentator, Berkeley, USA
Larry Mendosa: Special Agent, Drug Enforcement Administration, USA
Author, Historian, Journalist, London, UK
Journalist, Author, UK
Darwin Fisher: Intake manager, Insite, Vancouver, Canada
Derek Thomas: Client at Insite, Vancouver, Canada
Eugene Oscapella: Barrister and Solicitor, Ottawa, Canada
Pam Squire, MD.: Doctor, Pain Management Specialist, Vancouver, Canada
Daniel Reid: Author and Historian, Australia
Peresia and Danglesia Kathak: Opium farmers, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Romesh Bhattacharji: Former Narcotics Commissioner, India
Rui Reis: Outreach worker, Institute on Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, Portugal
The film was adapted into a 2-part TV documentary, which has been shown in several countries: