Matthew Perry the Latest Celebrity To Clash With Peter Hitchens Over Drugs

Last night, I attended most of an event in London
hosted by the think tank Policy Exchange, which
featured the actor Matthew Perry, Chief Executive of the National
Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) West Huddleston,
and NADCP Board Member Earl Hightower. The trio were in London to
discuss drug courts with British policy makers. 

Perry, Hightower, and Huddleston highlighted what they see as
the benefits of drugs courts, saying that they are better for
addicts and save money over time.

Drug courts are not anything new to regular Reason
readers. In this year’s July
issue of Reason Mike Riggs wrote on drug courts
and whether they undermine efforts to legalize marijuana in the
U.S. In that article Riggs pointed out that the NADCP had co-signed
a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him “to forcibly
prevent Colorado and Washington from implementing their
voter-approved marijuana legalization measures.”

During the Q&A session of the Policy Exchange event
Huddleston said that he was opposed to the legalization of
drugs.

Later that evening, Matthew Perry appeared on the BBC’s
Newsnight show to discuss drug courts with Baroness Meacher, the
chair of the Drug Policy
Reform All-Party Group, and the journalist and drug warrior
Peter Hitchens (brother of
Christopher Hitchens), the author of
The War We Never Fought.

What followed was a passionate exchange which included
Hitchens again
calling into question the existence of addiction. One highlight in
particular is Perry saying that Hitchens’ claim that addiction is
not real is “as ludicrous as saying that Peter Pan was real.”
Hitchens also claimed that medical professionals are wrong to
consider addiction a disease.

The editor of Newsnight tweeted
that a producer had been sent to make sure Perry and Hitchens left
the studio through different exits after the filming of the
segment.

Watch below:

Perry is not the first celebrity to have clashed with Hitchens
over drug policy on Newsnight. The comedian and actor Russell Brand
appeared on the show with Hitchens last year to discuss
addiction. 

Watch below:

More from Reason.com on drug policy here.