It's now nearly 90 years since the first international attempts were taken to control illicit drugs in 1909 at Shanghai. Today the world is facing levels of heroin production unprecedented in recent history, ten times higher than the last 'plague' of the 1970s. Heroin has now become a global commodity insinuating its way into much of the third world and the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. DEALING WITH THE DEMON is a three part series which examines how we find ourselves in the situation despite an international war on drugs. What can really be done about it? Each film interweaves contemporary human stories with crucial scenes from the history of the drug trade which has now grown to become the second largest industry in the world.