Drawing a Line | Mike Linnell | 20 Years of Harm Reduction
Harry Shapiro
Mike on Harry
Harry is editor of Druglink and an author in his own right. He has written numerous books about 'rock stars' and drugs and in the case of the brilliant 'Waiting for the Man' both at the same time. It is always a comfort to know Harry is there, ever constant, always questioning, always supportive, and always sound in his judgment and opinion. Harry looked the same twenty years ago as he does now; which is either good or bad depending on what you think of Harry's looks.
A while back, I sat in a conference where one of the speakers stood up and said, "I usually start my talks with a joke, but drugs is far too serious a subject to joke about". I thought then that comment was crap - and I still do. Humour serves to normalise and domesticate - if you can laugh about something, it is not so threatening, it makes it easier to deal with. Mike has known this for years - and his pioneering work in presenting crucial health and safety information about drugs in a very accessible format to all sorts of hard to reach groups is something to be celebrated. And as we all know, Mike's unique approach has proved very threatening to the forces of moral outrage and over the years, Lifeline has teetered close to the edge of funding cuts, closure and even arrest.
This is the point when I should be saying something like "we need more people like Mike" - but if you have a Mike, you also need an organisation like Lifeline prepared to ride up to the barricades like Steve McQueen in the 'Great Escape' - and in this day and age, that seems increasingly unlikely. But for Mike, of course, there is no escape ... and I should know. So from the bottom of the K Hole, I salute you ...