Grades College, Adult
Produced by Adrian Cowell with WGBH/Frontline
DVD Purchase $79, Rent $45
US Release Date: 1996
Copyright Date: 1996
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-680-2
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-678-X
Subjects
Asian Studies
China
Developing World
Drugs
History
Hong Kong
Human Rights
Humanities
International Studies
Pacific Studies
Political Science
Social Justice
Smack City
Hong Kong, the drug capital of southeast Asia for the last century.
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"Proving again that truth is far more intriguing than fiction." Gerald A. Notaro, MC Journal |
The second program in the series "The Heroin Wars" examines the 30-year War on Drugs in Hong Kong, which has been the drug capital of southeast Asia for a century, ever since the Chinese ceded it to Britain to harbor the opium fleet. In Hong Kong opium was sold under a government license until the end of World War II, when Britain enforced the UN treaty against narcotics. In the 1960s Hong Kong's suppliers and addicts switched from the relatively innocuous opium to the stronger and more addictive heroin because it was easier to smuggle and quicker to consume.
The film follows the fortunes of the Triad gang, which controlled the selling of heroin on one street corner. Over the years some of the gang evade the police, but others are arrested and jailed. Ah Sing tries to kick the habit but fails, and eventually dies of an overdose.
The film also follows the Hong Kong police as they raid heroin factories and distribution centers in what appears to be a futile struggle, since they seldom reduce the amount of heroin reaching the gangs on the street level.
Other titles in the series are:
The Opium Convoys - Lo Hsing-Han, Khun Sa and the beginning of the war on drugs.
The Kings of Opium - Khun Sa changes sides in the narcotics carousel.
Reviews
"Proving, again, that truth is far more intriguing than fiction, The Heroin Wars is documentary film making at its finest, a superb and skillfully told story which ultimately reveals that as long as there are supplies, and drug addicts, there will always be a drug trade. Highly recommended for purchase."
Gerald A. Notaro, University Librarian, University of South Florida MC Journal: the Journal of Academic Media Librarianship
"Essential viewing for anyone interested in the history of the narcotics trade and the war on drugs; highly recommended for academic libraries and world history collections."
Library Journal