This might be the only time almost all of Twitter agree with Russell Brand
This week has seen a social media turn-around for the star following the airing of BBC 3's Russell Brand: End the Drugs War
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Your support makes all the difference.Two weeks ago, cries of ‘Hypocrite’ sprang from headlines and angrily congested timelines, as social housing campaigner Russell Brand once more became the subject of negative media scrutiny.
The Sun ran an entire story about the alleged tax affairs of the company the comedian rents his Hoxton loft apartment from, claiming it banked offshores. This, the paper alleged, stood at odds with Brand’s repeat insistence on proper tax regulations on big businesses.
The hour-long special featured the comedian being as extroverted and tactile and verbose as anyone would expect from an hour-long special featuring Russell Brand.
But this time, as a reformed addict himself, it was on a subject he could truly relate to.
So he gallivanted to the UN, he conversed with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, he shadowed an addict from the street into prison and back onto the street again in order to highlight his belief treating addiction is a health issue, and not a criminal problem.
He outlined his tried and tested theory that the best way to aid those with drug dependency issues is through abstinence and compassion – not jail sentences and homelessness. And he was applauded for his efforts on Twitter in a manner rarely agreed by so many:
The programme ends with Brand giving evidence at a Home Affairs Select Committee on the UK’s existing drugs laws.
"If the system isn't working, change the system!" he shouts by way of conclusion.
He appears to have changed his own, too.
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