In a little synchronicity to emphasise the wisdom of Brimz's philosophy, an email from a member of the Commons sub committee to say they're ''hopeful'' changes will be made to the Drug Laws at the conclusion of their investigations. Of course, this does not mean they're in agreement with all the opinions expressed on these pages or anything dramatic is going to happen overnight. But my correspondent's dry observations on the nature of some of the witnesses before the Committee rather reflect my own and their tone in general suggests our elected representatives - or at least some of them - are not quite as blind as we sometimes think.
More importantly, it seems there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel. If you look at the committee, you'll see it's made up of a couple of reformers, a couple of 'antis' and a majority of in-betweeners. So, if you can string together a sentence or three and don't believe you should lead a diminished existence because of your choice of consciousness-changer, and particularly if you've faced unfairness or unnecessary problems, write and tell them all about it.
Remember MPs are only people. Like the wider populus, if they don't see the drug user as a tattooed obscenity who only rises from the gutter in which he resides in order to scrounge, rob or spread disease they're still vulnerable to the scare stories and myths with which you're all familiar. The wanna-be moral arbiters and social policemen who spread such nonsense have all had their say as usual and laid their familiar arguments before the committee. Previously, nobody from the drug user community could be bothered to correct them, the politicians figured it must therefore be the truth and these misguided souls won by default. In consequence, if you're a drug user, you suffer for their fantasies today.
Here's your chance to change this tradition. The way these things work, if your own story can affect one particular member, it will make him more sympathetic to the arguments of the reformers and may even influence the report - democracy in action, the way it's meant to be.
I know all the reasons to be pessimistic and cynical but put them on hold for a little while and, like the brimz says, give hope a shot. If you've anything to say on either the IDS speech, opiate prescribing or the Drug Laws in general, now is very much the time to choose the right person to whom to write and to say it. You reap what you sow, they say, and you might just make a difference.
