Comedian Russell Brand (who is shockingly elegant in spoken and written word sometimes, presumably when he’s not trying to be understood by an American audience) gave testimony from an addict’s perspective during a recent hearing in Parliament on addiction.
Two quotes, if you cannot play the video at work. (We know that feel, bro.) Brand explains:
“It is something I consider to be an illness, and therefore more of a health matter than a criminal or judicial matter. It is more important that we regard people suffering from addiction with compassion and there is a pragmatic rather than a symbolic approach to treating it… Addicts who get clean one day at a time through abstinence-based recovery generally stop committing crime. That’s better for victims, that’s better for the addicts, that’s better for society.”
Russell continues:
“As the great Tupac Shakur said, ‘Role is something people play, model is something people make. Both of those things are fake’ …What I want to offer people is truth and authenticity in the treatment of this illness, in our regards to the criminal components of it, in assisting victims and in the way we legislate and organize our society.”
Worth a watch, even if you aren’t a Russell Brand fan.