Episode list

The roots of America's War on Drugs is uncovered. Secret assassination attempts, the CIA's bizarre experiments with LSD, and covert support of heroin traffickers are factors leading up to President Nixons' declaration of war on drugs in America. It's a story of lies and unintended consequences - a gonzo story of gangsters and gurus, war lords and spies, street gangs and politicians - all vying for power and control of a growing new black market for narcotics.

Cocaine lands in America from secret airports, lining the pockets of violent cartel bosses, and an infamous "black widow", as the CIA's shadow wars have unintended consequences. President Reagan cracks down as crack invades the USA.

America's War on Drugs rages on. The Clinton Administration's support of NAFTA inadvertently opens the door to Mexican cartels, and its response to a wave of violence leads to mass incarceration. A celebrity's sister becomes a successful meth lord in the Midwest, as a powerful group of cartels begin a bloody war for dominance. America's streets are flooded with drugs with no end of the war on drugs in sight.

After 9/11, the war on terror and the war on drugs collide. In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai's brother is allegedly a major heroin trafficker and the country becomes the premiere heroin supplier. Terrorists line their coffers with drug money, as the first Mexican super cartel forms and El Chapo goes on the run. Big Pharma becomes a major supplier of addictive substances as Americans ponder whether the war on drugs is worth it.