The Business of Drugs: Money, Greed & Global Drug Deals – Series

The Business of Drugs shows how much money, power and suffering is really behind the global drug trade – from meth to marijuana. Hosted by a former CIA agent, the series takes a hard-hitting look at what happens when drugs become billion-dollar markets. Each episode sheds light on a different substance – with data, facts and insights into cartels, consumption and politics. Informative, gritty and frighteningly topical. The Weediquette series is similar. Although this deals more with the individual fates of cannabis users, it is also in documentary style and deals with moral aspects. Back to overview: Top cannabis series.

The Business of Drugs: Money, Greed & Global Drug Deals

Whether cannabis, cocaine or synthetic drugs – this Netflix documentary series explores the questions: Where do drugs come from? Who profits from them? And why is it so difficult to stop the business? The series sheds light on the drug system not from the stoner’s perspective, but as a global economic system.

5 facts about the series

  1. Netflix documentary, released in 2020
  2. Moderator: Amaryllis Fox (former CIA agent)
  3. 6 episodes, different material in each episode
  4. Topic among others: Cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, meth
  5. Mix of interviews, reports & data analysis

The truth behind the global drug trade

From Californian cannabis farms to Colombian cartels, each episode brings global perspectives to an issue that is often trivialized.

How is The Business of Drugs? Rating

Here is our rating for The Business of Drugs:

  • Humor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Action ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ex CIA agent as reporter

Amaryllis Fox was an undercover CIA agent and now brings her experience to journalism. Without show, but with presence.

  • Critical, objective & calm
  • Ask smart questions instead of ready-made answers

That’s why this documentary is a must!

The Business of Drugs does not reduce the subject to a crime story or consumption, but analyzes it like an economic system. Cannabis is not a subculture here – but a market worth billions. In the video, Chris from Movies And Munchies explains in detail what makes the documentary so worth watching.

  • Realism instead of romanticization
  • Compares legal & illegal markets

The cannabis episode: Numbers & discord

One episode is all about weed – and why even in legal markets (e.g. California) the black market survives. It’s about taxes, prices, power and politics.

  • Cannabis ≠ automatic justice
  • Legalization with downsides

More documentaries with depth & weed focus

If you were interested in The Business of Drugs – here are two serious documentaries that take a deeper look:

Weediquette: People & Fates

Vice documentary with Krishna Andavolu, which shows cannabis not just as a substance, but as a reality of life – with heart and attitude. Weediquette shows individual fates and moral issues surrounding cannabis, often with a personal approach – The Business of Drugs, on the other hand, analyzes the economic structures behind it and takes a more objective, global perspective.

Grass: The history of the ban

Narrated by Woody Harrelson – a look back at the prohibition policy surrounding cannabis. Archive footage & irony included. Grass looks back at the origins of cannabis prohibition and works with humor and archival footage – The Business of Drugs focuses on the harsh present: international markets, profits and the dark side of the trade.

  • Historical & enlightening
  • Politics meets pop culture
  • About the movie: Grass

Top 10 cannabis series

The Business of Drugs is not a classic stoner format – but provides important perspectives on the topic. You can find the complete list here: