Drawing a Line | Mike Linnell | 20 Years of Harm Reduction
Ian Wardle
Mike on Ian
Ian is the Chief Executive of Lifeline and has been my boss since the early 1990's. Since that time Lifeline has gone from having about 30 staff to about 300. That in itself is quite remarkable although not that unusual as the huge expansion in the drugs field has seen a number of treatment services grow as rapidly as we have. What is remarkable is that we have managed to do this whilst still publishing the most radical and innovative publications ever produced by a British charity. I don't think there are any other Chief Executives in the drugs sector (or anywhere else for that matter) that would have supported the work we do.
Nobody gets away with what Mike Linnell gets away with. Nobody. When Lifeline and Mike notoriously "crossed the line" in 2002, there was a certain amount of laughter here. Who of us, after all, had last seen Mike Linnell when he was on this side of the line. Mike has repeatedly redefined where the line is and in so doing reserved his right to continue crossing it.
Mike is part of a strong ethnographic tradition in the British drugs field. His work is shaped out of his contact with drug users. Mike is an ethnographer and his work is satisfyingly rich in milieux detail. This is more than a milieux, however, this is a world: a world described by Mike on the basis of his researches and investigations with the people for whom his work ultimately is intended.
I am enormously proud of Mike's work as a propagandist. Lifeline tells the truth about drugs. Mike Linnell tells the truth about drugs. He is one of the very finest campaigners against the humourless stupidities of the war against drugs. He is one of the most innovative and best informed public health safety campaigners in Britain and beyond. He is a major propagandist for drug normalization.
Note in Mike's work the many, many large tableaux of mass intoxication. These murals are, each in their own way, manifestos for drug normalization. Drug use is normal. Excessive drug use is normal. And in public too. It's the British way. Drug use is normal. It isn't necessarily safe, considerate or sensible. Also note in Mike's work the very many images of misery and humiliation. For every celebration there is a cautionary tale - and a hangover.
Whatever our attitudes to drugs and drug users, however, we are charged with putting across the best, most accessible, and most up-to-date safety advice on illegal and legal drug use. Mike Linnell's work is the best as well as being the most provocative, the most engaging and the most humorous.