Russell Brand calls for change in drug laws in wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death

Comic actor and former heroin addict Russell Brand says the recent death of Philip Seymour Hoffman makes the case that drug laws need to be changed. Writing for the British newspaper The Guardian, Brand argues that drug addiction is a “mental illness” and should therefore be treated as a medical condition in hopes of preventing tragedies such as Hoffman, who was found dead in his apartment this past weekend from a suspected heroin overdose. Asks Brand: “Would Hoffman have died if this disease were not so enmeshed in stigma? If we weren’t invited to believe that people who suffer from addiction deserve to suffer? Would he have OD’d if drugs were regulated, controlled and professionally administered?” Change drug laws