Drugs - Russell Brand: End The Drugs War

The documentary Russell Brand made for BBC Three in 2012 concluded with him giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee. Drawing on his own experience of drug taking and recovery, he advocated treating addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal problem and underlined his own belief that abstinence is the best way to help addicts. Since then the Committee has reported its findings, concluding that the British drugs laws were failing and that it was a now or never moment to reform them. But David Cameron didnt agree, insisting that the drugs policy is working in Britain and that we should stick at it. In this personal journey for BBC Three, Russell Brand sets out to challenge that point of view. He wants to find out how other countries are tackling their problems of drug abuse and to explore how the framework of criminalization implicit in the war on drugs produces enormous harm in the treatment of addicts. Russell believes that a shift is happening in the way that people view drug addiction. But to really change things he needs to persuade those who have power.