Ex-Addict Brand To Advise MPs On Drugs Policy

Comedian Russell Brand will tell MPs about his battle with drugs later and explain that society needs to change the way it views addicts.

The star is expected to tell those reviewing the Government's drug policy that addiction should not be seen as a crime or a romantic affectation.

The 36-year-old, who recently separated from his wife Katy Perry, has spoken frankly about his addictions to heroin and alcohol and has also written an autobiography.

Writing on his website last July, after the death of singer Amy Winehouse, Brand said addiction should be treated like a potentially fatal illness.

"Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death," he wrote.

"Now Amy Winehouse is dead, like many others whose unnecessary deaths have been retrospectively romanticised, at 27-years-old. Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is now irrelevant. It is not preventable today.

"We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease. Not all addicts have Amy's incredible talent. Or Kurt's (Cobain) or Jimi's (Hendrix) or Janis's (Joplin), some people just get the affliction.

"All we can do is adapt the way we view this condition, not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill."

Brand has also accused the media of being more interested in "tragedy than talent", saying they focused more on Winehouse's personal battles than her musical career.

He will be asked for his views on addiction when he appears before the Home Affairs Select Committee alongside Chip Somers, chief executive of the detox centre Focus 12, where he sought help with drug dependency.

Keith Vaz, the committee's chairman, said Brand would be questioned "about his own experiences and about his latest project, a documentary of the nature of addiction and how it is viewed by society".

Mr Vaz said: "Hearing from those personally affected by drugs use is essential to our inquiry.

"I welcome Russell Brand's openness about his addiction and recovery. I hope that his experiences will help us understand the nature of addiction and the impact that it has on addicts and those around them."