Drug arrests are just a blip says Brand

The UK should stop wasting money on policing minor drugs offences and decriminalise the possession of drugs, comedian Russell Brand said yesterday.

The flamboyant film star, who told MPs reviewing the Government’s drugs strategy that he had beaten his heroin addiction, said some people could safely take drugs and he was not promoting a “just say no” message.

But he called for more help and support for those with the “condition of addiction”.

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Brand, who has been arrested a dozen times over his drug use, said the legal status of drugs was “irrelevant, at best an inconvenience” and being arrested was just an “administrative blip”.

Asked for his views on spending less money on the policing of possession offences, Brand said: “I think that’s a brilliant idea.

“Penalising people for possession of drugs is costly and expensive.

“A good number of times I was arrested was simply for possession and the administrative costs of that would be better spent, I think, on education and addressing the costs of treatment.”

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Saying he backed decriminalisation, he said of addiction: “The criminal and legal status, I think sends the wrong message, but I wouldn’t start banging a drum to make drugs legal. I don’t take any drugs and I don’t drink because for me they’re bad.

“We need to recognise the distinction that certain people have a condition or a tendency that drugs and alcohol are going to ruin their lives. We need to identify those people and offer them the correct treatment.”

He added: “Making it illegal is not working anyway.

Brand – who arrived at the packed hearing wearing a black hat, gold chains and crosses, and a torn black vest top with jeans – spoke rapidly as he addressed members of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee by their first names.

He called MPs “mate” and, when Labour MP David Winnick told him the committee was not a variety show, Brand replied: “You’re providing a little bit of variety though, making it more like Dad’s Army.”

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Chip Somers, chief executive of the detox centre Focus 12 where Brand sought help with drug dependency, said: “I think there’s an awful lot of money wasted on small-time possession of small amounts of drugs which is just part and parcel of the daily hustle and bustle of using.”

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