The War on Drugs is  James' print series that brings to light the hypocrisies of the War on Drugs. Started by the British in 1839, opium was trafficked from India to China to get the Chinese population addicted to drugs to upset and flip the balance of trade between Britain and China in Britain's favor, using the East India Company. This one act set forth a chain of events that would wreak havoc on the world and be used as a tactic to fund many wars for the next two centuries, with no end in sight. Leading to multiple opium wars that span across Asia, crack and cocaine wars across North and South America, and the war on marijuana that has touched both continents. 

     

        With a WARNING: GOVERNMENTS USE DRUGS TO FUND WARS, this poster features the plants that have been weaponized against both the communities that grow them and manufacture them, and the communities that sell and consume them. The War on Drugs in English, Farsi, and Spanish, and drugs in the corner, manufactured from the plants that birthed them, represent the irony of the War on Drugs and the fact that it has been a tool used by the government to fund wars.​​​

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       Using digital prints on matte paper, these 18"x24" prints represent the war on weed, cocaine, crack, and opium, the effects that they had on the communities they touched, and the Governments that got away with trafficking them.

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Design: The Artist Oliver James 

Photography/Videography: Oliver James, Vox, Vice News, Viceland, AJ + PBS News