Russell Brand promotes abstinence-based recovery from addiction

In Vancouver, abstinence-based drug-addiction recovery programs aren't easy to find.

There's a supervised-injection site to minimize the harm.

And there's plenty of methadone for those who don't want to spend huge amounts of money getting a fix.

But abstinence? It's a bit of a dirty word.

Unless, of course, you're comedian Russell Brand.

I just stumbled across this video of him touting abstinence-based recovery before a British parliamentary committee on addiction

Brand, a former addict, was arrested 12 times and says he used drugs to deal with his emotional, psychological, and spiritual issues.

And he got off drugs thanks to an abstinence-based program.

"Maintenance of drug addiction through state-sponsored substances like methadone should only be deployed as part of a reduction with the ultimate aim of abstinence-based recovery," he insisted to the committee. "We need to start regarding addiction in all its forms as a health issue as opposed to a judicial and criminal issue."

You can find an abstinence-based approach at Welcome Home Addiction Recovery Academy in Surrey.