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How to Make Money Selling Drugs

  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
6.9K
YOUR RATING
How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2012)
A shockingly candid examination of how a street dealer can rise to cartel lord with relative ease, How to Make Money Selling Drugs is an insider’s guide to the violent but extremely lucrative drug industry. Told from the perspective of former drug dealers, and featuring interviews with rights advocates Russell Simmons, Susan Sarandon, and David Simon (creator of “The Wire”), the film gives you the lessons you need to start your own drug empire while exposing the corruption behind the “war on drugs.”
Play trailer1:35
3 Videos
8 Photos
Crime DocumentaryCrimeDocumentary

Ten easy steps show you how to make money from drugs, featuring a series of interviews with drug dealers, prison employees, and lobbyists arguing for tougher drug laws.Ten easy steps show you how to make money from drugs, featuring a series of interviews with drug dealers, prison employees, and lobbyists arguing for tougher drug laws.Ten easy steps show you how to make money from drugs, featuring a series of interviews with drug dealers, prison employees, and lobbyists arguing for tougher drug laws.

  • Director
    • Matthew Cooke
  • Writers
    • Matthew Cooke
    • Grant Jolly
  • Stars
    • 'Freeway' Ricky Ross
    • Susan Sarandon
    • David Simon
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    6.9K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Matthew Cooke
    • Writers
      • Matthew Cooke
      • Grant Jolly
    • Stars
      • 'Freeway' Ricky Ross
      • Susan Sarandon
      • David Simon
    • 29User reviews
    • 25Critic reviews
    • 69Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins total

    Videos3

    How to Make Money Selling Drugs
    Trailer 1:35
    How to Make Money Selling Drugs
    How To Make Money Selling Drugs
    Trailer 2:56
    How To Make Money Selling Drugs
    How To Make Money Selling Drugs
    Trailer 2:56
    How To Make Money Selling Drugs
    How To Make Money Selling Drugs: Clip 1
    Clip 1:01
    How To Make Money Selling Drugs: Clip 1

    Photos7

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    Top cast29

    Edit
    'Freeway' Ricky Ross
    'Freeway' Ricky Ross
    • Self
    • (as Freeway Rick Ross)
    Susan Sarandon
    Susan Sarandon
    • Self
    David Simon
    David Simon
    • Self
    50 Cent
    50 Cent
    • Self
    Woody Harrelson
    Woody Harrelson
    • Self
    Eminem
    Eminem
    • Self
    Matthew Cooke
    Matthew Cooke
    • Narrator
    Arianna Huffington
    Arianna Huffington
    • Self
    Russell Simmons
    Russell Simmons
    • Self
    Brian O'Dea
    • Self
    Bobby Carlton
    Bobby Carlton
    • Self
    Barry Neal Cooper
    • Self
    Eric Sterling
    Eric Sterling
    • Self
    Mike Walzman
    • Self
    Skipp Townsend
    • Self
    Joe Gilbride
    • Self
    Radley Balko
    Radley Balko
    • Self
    R. Gil Kerlikowske
    • Self
    • Director
      • Matthew Cooke
    • Writers
      • Matthew Cooke
      • Grant Jolly
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews29

    7.66.8K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    10fightobservant

    Finally an Entertaining Doc!

    There's only one way to say it.... with a title like "How To Make Money Selling Drugs" it takes balls to put this film out on the big screen. Kudos to you!

    This is an issue that effects us all... your either directly related in some way or indirectly related by paying your taxes...etc. Its relevant, always has been but especially now in 2012 the election year!!

    I'm not going to spoil the film, but what I will say is that if you watch docs or you don't this is going to grab your attention and hold it. Yes there have been many other drug films, many! But not done like this, its high value and beautifully shot! Filled with great interviews and several celebrities that are directly influenced or effected. This is a film is worth buying. I know documentaries are becoming more and more popular but in my own opinion most of them are just plain boring, or just not visually interesting at all. This is not the case here! Right from the start, great characters, great story and very informative! A great angle on the drug war and one that felt balanced on both sides. There are some deep moments but the theme keeps this one from getting too dark, which I personally liked. I hate the empty hopeless feeling from some docs....uh.

    However definitely stay till the end as the initial hook is much deeper set and the film continues past the opening eye candy of reeling in large dollar bills. There is a message for you.

    Certainly a deeper appreciation was felt for people on both sides, how quickly we have been to judge in our society or get behind polices that just sounded good, but no one cared enough to see who is affected.

    Hope this review is helpful to those in doubt. Obviously I liked the film and I know its hard to tell from a good review whether to watch but if your in doubt on this one...don't be! How To Make Money Selling Drugs is fun, driven and very entertaining. Go for it!
    10brandon-peril

    A Definite Yes

    I had the pleasure of attending a screening for How to Make Money Selling Drugs and I have to start out by saying that it is a definite yes.

    This is not your typical documentary. This is a really captivating story that paints an overall picture by allowing the viewer inside of each step of the drug wars and drug dealing businesses both in our country and internationally. The viewer is brought into so many different people's lives and so many facets of the drug wars that you are left whole when the film ends.

    The film is funny in a genuine way, yet powerful at the same time. I will reiterate that it's something to put on your radar.
    9in1984

    The Super Size me of Drug Documentaries

    9.1 of 10. Starts out feeling like a comedy, a faux documentary, in part because of the title, but also because the opening few minutes mock the opening of any "how to get rich" or "how to be successful" TV/video nonsense. Then the alternate reality shifts into reality, but continues with the quick pace and fun attitude for what is a tragic look into the past and present of drugs.

    It's essentially The War on Drugs documentary for Colbert Report and Daily Show fans, maybe even South Park fans. About the only thing it does wrong is not provide enough charts and data. What it does provide are seamlessly integrated into the film. I would have also like the part on Portugual explored a little more deeply.

    But wait, there's more! No need for a gun, you can make money by selling drug fear too! This is more than a literal look at how to make money by selling drugs. It gets into the many different ways politicians and corporations are profiting from drug prohibition.
    10stuartcookeinc

    More than meets the eye

    At the end of the film's premiere, the 300-odd cinema buffs at the Toronto Int Film Festival were in shock. They were still absorbing the multiple emotions evoked by the film's personalities and power. Ostensibly about the war against drugs and the drug trade, "How to Make Money Selling Drugs" paints on a much larger canvas. So many everyday impressions of how governments work, what the drug trade is, and how it's become such a scourge were overturned, it was difficult to take it all in. I think many will see the film a second or third time to fully absorb its import.

    The production values are unusual for a documentary. "Talking heads" do not appear as such because everyone we get to meet comes across as a whole person, a unique individual with hopes, weaknesses, and strengths outside of the discussion at hand. They are characters in a real life story with real life consequences for them and the world around all of us. We get to know every one of them a little bit. I left wanting to learn more about many of them. What happens as a result is that the film rises to another level, another theme — a deeply human portrayal of the human condition. A surprisingly revealing mirror of ourselves. It's reporting of the highest possible caliber.
    10daisydell692

    A Clear Message and Delivery

    How to Make Money Selling Drugs is an entertaining and fast paced ride that delivers a clear message. Whether you believe in decriminalizing drugs or not, the film gives nuggets of perspective that allow the audience to go on a path of discovery of their own, while still maintaining the film's own voice. The actual delivery of the message was the highlight for me. The film follows people from all walks of life - giving the audience a well-rounded, well researched and well conceived view. I find that many documentaries, especially on such controversial topics, can come out one-sided, but this is a true exception where you never feel forced to feel a certain way, but come out forming your own opinions that somehow mesh with the film's core values.

    So, in sum, brilliant!

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    Related interests

    The Thin Blue Line (1988)
    Crime Documentary
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
    Documentary

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Connections
      Features Easy Rider (1969)
    • Soundtracks
      Foolish
      Written by Eighty A Bug

      Performed by Jupiter Rising

      Published by Thirsty Greyhound Music & Jade 86 Music

      Courtesy of Chime Entertainment

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 26, 2013 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Как заработать деньги, продавая наркотики
    • Production company
      • Bert Marcus Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $39,192
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $9,202
      • Jun 30, 2013
    • Gross worldwide
      • $39,192
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 36m(96 min)
    • Color
      • Color

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