Welcome to you Can't Make This Up, a companion podcast for Netflix original true crime stories.

I'm Rebecca Lervoy, your host. Each episode we take a close up look at a true crime narrative, documentary, or series, and I talk to the people who made them, diving deep into the back stories and getting answers to questions raised by what we just watched.

This week, a documentary, Crack, Cocaine, Corruption, and Conspiracy.

I sit down with Stanley Nelson, the film's director. A note to listeners, this episode contains

spoilers, so remember to watch the film and then listen on.

In the early 1980s, the crack epidemic tore through America like a tsunami, ravaging all in its wake, and the destructive effects

on people's lives, families, and communities are still deeply felt decades later.

Crack, cocaine, corruption, and conspiracy examines the drugs devastation, shadowy origins,

and the ongoing criminalization of black and brown people in the U.S. prison and health care systems.

Just say no.

It felt extraordinarily hypocritical.

This was happening at a time when the US government was turning a blind eye to

cocaine smuggling.

Our goal was to defeat communism in Central America.

And if that meant drugs got in and the youth of America used them,

well that was the way it was going to be.

We knew that they were in on it.

We knew that they were dealing on the side.

What would you steal?

Money in drugs and guns whatever was it.

That was kind of like chemical warfare on black communities. It's great to all.

Stanley Nelson, welcome to you can make this up. Thank you.

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