The most liberal country in the world
has the same low rate (of heroin users) as one of the most totalitarian
countries in the world. That disproves the idea that you need totalitarian
measures to deal with these problems."
So says Director Jonathan Blank about the utopic look
he has created in his new documentary Sex, Drugs and Democracy, an examination of the Dutch vision of a free society. Remarkable
in its straightforwardness, Sex, Drugs and Democracy exploits
the Dutch concept of personal freedom and responsibility through
interviews with politicians,law officers, academics, and others
involved in a society that includes a legalized sex industry, the
open sale of marijuana, equality for gays, and the distribution
of clean syringes and methadone to drug addicts.
Blank, along with producer Barclay Powers, spent
months accessing politicians, judges, prostitutes, law enforcement
agents and scientists to gain some insight into the remarkable results
of the Dutch version of democracy. What they assembled into the
feature-length documentary serves to reinforce the concept of `if
you tell someone they can’t have something, they’ll only want it
more.’ Yet the Dutch populace believes if you allow them to decide
for themselves if something like sex or drugs has merit, chances
are they won’t want it any longer.
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| Blank: America’s war on drugs is a total fiasco. |
"That’s not to say what works in Holland will
definitely work in America," cautioned Blank. "What it
is trying to say is the ideas that we run by here (in America) might
not be the only ones viable. A 30-year war on drugs we’ve seen hasn’t
worked …. I don’t really understand how in a capitalist country
like ours we can keep pumping so much money down the drain on a
war on drugs when, in any other instance, we would say this is a
huge waste of money. In a capitalist society, you’re supposed to
get results. If you’re having a war on drugs and you’re not decreasing
the amount of drugs coming into the country, then your war on drugs
is a total fiasco and should be exposed as such. I think in America
perception is more important than reality," admitted Blank
when faced with the question of why Americans typically resist 90
percent of the film’s statement. "I think there’s a tendency
in our society to avoid looking for solutions. In some sense, creating
conflicts is more expedient to people’s political goals than finding
a solution. It’s a closed-mindedness, a feeling of wanting to blame
other people rather than seeking a solution to the problem."
Blank and Powers have collaborated previously on
the pop-anthropological documentary Collecting America, a
film about the multi-million dollar baseball memorabilia business. Sex, Drugs and Democracy has started its wide theatrical
release and has been invited to the Montreal International Film
Festival this fall. It is their first full-length film and features
a driving original soundtrack.