The Preventable Tragedy of Cocaine Bear

Welcome to episode two of The UnScene! Cocaine Bear is causing quite the buzz for its humorous plot and generous “true story” adaptation. Did you know that the real “cocaine bear” is a consequence of failed drug war policy? As it turns out, a war on anything creates perverse incentives and a trail of blood along the way.
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CREDITS:
Written by Matt Hampton, Matt Tabor, Sean W. Malone
Narrated by Matt Tabor
Produced by Paul Nelson, Matt Tabor
Edited by Michael Ozias
Assistant Edited by Abby Richardson
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Learn more:
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/17/the-us-has-spent-over-a-trillion-dollars-fighting-war-on-drugs.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885125/Gold-bars-worth-4m-laundered-South-American-drug-cartels-seized-Heathrow-Airport.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-drug-cartel-news-bodies-found-clandestine-graves-jalisco/#:~:text=Mexico's homicide rate has tripled,inhabitants to 28 in 2021
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/30/fact-check-u-s-government-poisoned-some-alcohol-during-prohibition/3283701001/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal
https://variety.com/2023/film/news/cocaine-bear-true-story-1235533218/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-real-story-of-cocaine-bear-b2290895.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/03/movies/cocaine-bear-true-story-trailer-trnd/index.html
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/643619/cocaine-bear-true-story
https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2019/08/29/inenglish/1567090442_049669.html
https://www.theday.com/op-ed/20110219/guatemalan-army-fights-a-jungle-war-against-mexican-drug-cartels/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/guatemala-rainforest-narcos-cocaine-jets-drug-war-a9615746.html
https://insightcrime.org/news/brief/drug-flights-guatemala-continue-soar/
https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/a-new-secret-runway-found-in-laguna-del-tigre-national-park-in-guatemala/
https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/central-america/guatemala/guatemala-drug-trafficking-and-violence
https://theworld.org/stories/2016-06-07/guatemalan-drug-lords-are-burning-forests-land-planes
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Why-Are-Drug-Cartels-Starting-Forest-Fires-in-Guatemala-20160608-0007.html
https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/guatemala-combats-forest-fires-caused-by-narcotrafficking/
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/
https://www.arborday.org/programs/rainforest/report/2010/guatemala.cfm
https://ecosphere.plus/2021/03/10/deforestation-guatemala/
https://agrocorrn.com/15-endangered-animals-in-guatemala/
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/83894
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-guatemala-maya/drug-gang-jungle-fires-threaten-guatemala-ruins-idUSN2727487020080530
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/oct/08/guatemala-maya-nature-reserve-drug-gangs
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/drug-gang-poses-threat-to-guatemala/
https://www.immigroup.com/topics/top-11-most-creative-drug-smuggling-attempts/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/us/drugs-border-wall.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/09/gangs-take-bigger-risks-to-smuggle-drugs-into-lockdown-britain
https://khn.org/news/article/xylazine-tranq-drugs-dangerous/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1486827
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/two-powerful-drugs-are-making-way-illicit-drug-supply-rcna47674
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-11-05/a-dozen-drug-gangs-fighting-for-tourist-market-in-mexicos-caribbean-says-official
https://www.foxla.com/news/official-a-dozen-drug-gangs-fighting-for-mexicos-caribbean
https://apnews.com/article/business-mexico-caribbean-army-drug-cartels-5b165c95f2d1c276fbccd688d1ee12a0
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2020/09/18/drug-gangs-fighting-over-territory-and-causing-dreadful-violence-police-chief/
https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/mexicos-drug-cartels-fight-territory
https://www.backpacker.com/stories/adventures/danger/cocaine-bear-the-true-story-behind-the-ultimate-party-animal/
https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article271026082.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20080121200609/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960158,00.html
https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/four-decades-counting-continued-failure-war-drugs
https://web.archive.org/web/20070429131407/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959901,00.html
https://fee.org/articles/why-the-feds-intentionally-poisoned-americans-during-prohibition-killing-thousands-and-why-you-ve-never-heard-about-it/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1OYgyEPHqc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuWEEKeJLMI
https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/four-decades-counting-continued-failure-war-drugs

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FEE focuses on introducing freedom as a life philosophy to newcomers in the youth audience, striving to bring about a world in which the economic, ethical, and legal principles of a free society are familiar and credible to the rising generation.