Inside: Gangs and Drugs

You have spotted the graffiti. You have seen their tattoos. And you have read the shocking headlines documenting their brutality. But what is driving the rapid spread of the ultra violent gang MS-13, which has infected big cities and small towns across the country? National Geographic Channel's Explorer and Lisa Ling take you deep inside a merciless world hidden in plain view - the shadowy culture of MS-13. It is an organization that recruits the most desperate, including children, and twists them into hardened criminals capable of the most heinous crimes. Explorer: World's Most Dangerous Gang reveals how MS-13 works from those who know it best - detailing its extreme culture and rituals through revealing interviews with active members, those struggling to break free and investigators dedicated to stemming the increasing tide of violence that now spills beyond our borders.

National Geographic goes inside the cannabis industry with Lisa Ling, reporting from secret farms and not so secret grow houses of marijuana cultivators into a world where marijuana is not just a drug but a way of life. Learn what is behind the increased potency of a new designer crop and how growers circumvent law enforcement while creating a more perfect plant sometimes literally in their living rooms. Then explore the controversial medical uses of marijuana in some states, permitting personal use in violation of federal law and creating a tangled web of enforcement conflicts. Ling conducts revealing interviews with the self proclaimed "Prince of Pot," law enforcement, growers, scientists and everyday users who offer insight into this complex set of issues.

Many governments ban certain drugs yet others cherish them as essential to their core traditions. For what benefits... and at what price... do people try mind altering drugs?

Tokyo: orderly...modern...and seemingly safe. But this vast neon city hides a dark secret. For the millions who live here, it's something you don't see every day, and you may never encounter it face to face. For people on the inside, however, nothing could be more obvious than the power of Japan's infamous organized crime syndicates known as the Yakuza. National Geographic takes you inside this secretive underworld to meet the real Yakuza-thugs and high-ranking bosses-plus the people who write about their every move, and the cops who track them down. Incredible personal stories and candid interviews reveal an organization both honorable and corrupt, violent and restrained, compassionate and driven by an insatiable greed.

Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs on earth. Stronger, purer and easier to get than ever before. The newest forms of heroin can be snorted or smoked--rather than injected--attracting millions of new users. National Geographic investigates how the war in Afghanistan has inadvertently unleashed a deluge of heroin, feeding addicts from Kabul to Europe to America's heartland.