The Futility of Traffic

For someone who cannot forget that 500,000 people wake up in prison in America each day who are not common criminals but prisoners of the War on Drugs, the movie Traffic is a disappointment. Regarded by some Drug War critics as a portrayal of the futility of pursuing a war against people who use illegal drugs (use = consume, possess, distribute, manufacture, conspire to do any of these things), Traffic goes only just so far in this …

…e ambivalence in regard to whether the Drug War is a futile enterprise. And it would account for the silence in regard to 500,000 Drug War prisoners. For whatever reason, Drug War prisoners count for nothing in Traffic -- the ultimate futility. . To prisoners this is of no great consequence. Traffic is rated R, and movies of a more sensational rating than PG are not, as far as this reviewer knows, screened before a prison audience.