Alex James - Cocaine Diaries

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The Devil’s dandruff (one of cocaine’s endearing street names) has become an intrinsic part of pop culture, forming the backdrop for Hollywood movies including Scarface and Blow. Who could ever forget the incandescent Al Pacino as Tony Montana, flying into a cocaine-fuelled rage? However, when the snorting moves from celluloid to real life, things become far more sobering. Alex James, the bassist with British pop group Blur and a former addict himself, travels to Colombia to gauge the impact the white powder has had on the country. James confronts his demons in an unusual manner, meeting a diverse set of personalities from the Colombian president to a cocaine dealer as well as a hitman, and tries to understand why this intoxicant causes 17,000 deaths a year on the streets of Colombia.

BBC World News, Channel 13