[top photo: Alex James in The Cocaine Dairies]

By Jill Alphonso

THESE days, every celebrity seems to have a travel show.

There's Ewan McGregor, who helms Long Way Down with Charlie Boorman. Gwyneth Paltrow hosts a food/travel show, Spain...On The Road Again. Even Jeremy Piven of Entourage has got into the game, hosting Jeremy Piven's Journey Of A Lifetime, where he travels to India.

These shows see the hosts exploring, tangoing through cultural mires, and discovering something about themselves. Now, bassist Alex James of Britpop band Blur kicks the genre up a notch.

James, who is now an organic farmer and a columnist for British newspaper The Independent, was once a cocaine addict who said he had probably spent around £1 million (S$2.3 million) on cocaine and champagne.

He chronicles a journey to Colombia - which is responsible for producing around 80 per cent of the world's cocaine - in Cocaine Diaries: Alex James In Colombia.

Invited there by President Alvaro Uribe Velez himself, the purpose of the trip is to educate the layman on the trail of destruction the drug leaves behind as it is farmed, produced and exported.

James flexes his journalistic muscles as he interviews farmers, mules and dealers, and visits secret jungle laboratories. He also sees how the trade is destroying the country.

A hitman tells James: "In recent years, everything that goes (on) down here in Colombia is related to the drug trade... The vast majority of the murders, homicides, fighting and armed conflicts happen because of narco- trafficking."

That hitman, James learns later, died two months after speaking to him while on a job.

By the end of it, James is convinced that if this programme could save even one life and stop just one person from doing cocaine, the world would be a better place.

And, at the end, you now know that cocaine is definitely not cool. But you must also ask yourself this question: What do I do that may contribute to such tragedies?

Granted, the average person's life does not touch on such salacious topics, but the programme leaves you feeling as though you want to treat fellow men a little better, and to tread with care where you can.

Now, that's a celebrity who has used his status for the power of good.

jilla@sph.com.sg

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