Brad Pitt on US War on Drugs: 'Such a Bad Strategy, It Makes No Sense'
Actor-activist Brad Pitt has a new cause these days and has spoken out about the United States' current war on drugs, which he calls a failure. "It's such a bad strategy; it makes no sense," he said at a press conference. The actor has battled with drugs and now wants to see the country help others as well.
"I know people are suffering because of it," Pitt told Reuters before the screening of "The House I Live In," which he executive produced. "I know I've lived a very privileged life in comparison, and I can't stand for it. It's such a bad strategy. It makes no sense. It perpetuates itself."
"You make a bust, you drive up profit, which makes more people want to get into it. To me, there's no question; we have to rethink this policy and we have to rethink it now," he added.
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The film features the stories of those affected in different ways by drugs in the U.S. "The House I Live In" became a passion of Pitt's, not only due to his own history of abuse, but because of his work with the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
"That was an interesting premise for me. I hadn't thought about [the war on drugs] in that matter (before seeing the film), but certainly what we witnessed after Katrina proved the idea had validity," the 48-year-old actor said.
"It's a never-ending cycle," Pitt added. "But then when you look at it after wheat we experienced with Katrina- this is Eugene's point and what he wanted to investigate- it is actually being used to cap a portion of our society and holding them back, shackling them."
One idea Pitt had for helping ease the war on drugs was to "take the profit out of it. I know this comes with a whole other host of problems, and I don't know if I'm actually presenting it as a reality, but we have to look at the what-if-everything-was-legal and people were allowed to make their own choices," Pitt told the Huffington Post.
"The House I Live In" took home the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and opened across the U.S. on Friday.
