In Rome, Oliver Stone Rails Against Drugs War, Gives Lukewarm Endorsement to Obama

ROME – Three-time Oscar winning director Oliver Stone turned political during his visit to Rome to promote his latest film project, Savages, calling the U.S.’s war on drugs “a failure” and offering what appeared to be a lukewarm endorsement of President Barak Obama.

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The film tells the story of a clash between two American marijuana growers and a drug cartel over the fate of a girl. It is based on a novel of the same name by Don Winslow, which Stone praised as “the most original thriller I’ve ever read.” The film opens in Italy Oct. 25.

Stone, who appeared in Rome alongside two of the film’s stars, Salma Hayek and John Travolta, quickly got off topic in discussing the film, weighing in on the U.S.’s war on drugs, which he said makes a mistake by focusing attention on drug users rather than the traffickers.

Stone also said he planned to vote for Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney, though he spoke in favor of Obama with little apparent enthusiasm.

“I hope Obama is reelected because if Romney were president we would return to the Bush years,” he said. “But with Obama, there will at least be a little hope.”