Brad Pitt: The War on Drugs is ‘Nonsensical, Backwards and Inept’

Brad Pitt threw his considerable celebrity behind the documentary “The House I Live In” on Friday night at the Sundance Sunset cinemas in West Hollywood, making a surprise appearance to introduce Eugene Jarecki’s film, joke about his past drug use and tell the audience that the war on drugs is a costly failure.

“I think it’s safe to say that the drug war is nonsensical,” Pitt told TheWrap in an interview before his appearance.

“It’s a backwards, inept strategy.”

Added Jarecki, “The ‘tough on crime’ strategy failed. We created a war on drugs, which is a trillion dollars spent over 40 years, 45 million arrests, leading to nothing. Drugs are cheaper, purer, more available than ever before, and used by younger and younger people. Who can stand by that?”

A few minutes later, Pitt walked to the front of a half-filled 180-seat theater and introduced himself to a surprised audience by saying, “Hi, everybody. I’m Brad Pitt. And I’m a drug addict.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Actually, my drug days have long passed, but it’s certainly true that I could land in any city and any state and get you anything you wanted. Just give me 24 hours, and I’ll know where to find it.

“And yet we still talk about the drug war as if it’s a success.”

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