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Alex James: 'Cocaine Is A Relentless Trail Of Death'

He speaks ahead of tonight's TV documentary...

January 28, 2008 by Scott Colothan | Photo by wenn
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Blur’s Alex James has called the cocaine trade in Columbia “a relentless trail of death” after filming a documentary in the South American country.

James features on tonight’s special edition of Panorama, screened on BBC1 at 8.30pm, where he looks into the underbelly of the lucrative trade in the country.

80% of the world’s cocaine is estimated to come from the country, and James admitted that his experiences weren’t pretty.

He tells Newsbeat: "It's a war, that's what you're covering. The cash generated by coke basically has been funding a civil war that's been raging for decades.

"It's a relentless trail of death, it's just not stopping and it did start to wear me down."

Since leaving the country, two of the people who James interviewed on the documentary have lost their lives.

The bassist continued that he hopes his investigation will in some way educate people and make them think about the consequences buying drugs has.

He says: All you can do is just show people what's happening there. There's no point in moralising about it. It's part of an education process that's going to take years."

"(Cocaine taking) is implicit in a celebrity rock and roll lifestyle. It's kind of almost acceptable. It's seen as a victimless crime I suppose taking drugs, but if you follow the trail of dots back to Colombia it's pretty horrible."
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  • argue the case for legalisation then.

    ~ by chockablock 1/28/2008 Report

    Reply to this comment

  • no shit Sherlock.

    ~ by smellytrabs 1/28/2008 Report

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  • L-e-g-a-l-i-s-a-t-i-o-n??? The world would explode! Are you F’ing mental.....or a coke head? Prat.

    ~ by Bis 1/31/2008 Report

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  • well done bis (i like all your albums)

    ~ by chockablock 2/4/2008 Report

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  • I applaude you for bringing more attention to this matter. I am an American woman who has spent time in Colombia working with victims of violence and forced displacement by armed groups, who are financed by the cocaine trade. If there were no demand for this drug, there would be no supply, leaving these brutal armed groups without power and resources to carry out the human rights atrocities they commit.

    ~ by JJHillChicago 3/14/2008 Report

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