Weeks after penning a column in The Guardian reflecting on Philip Seymour Hoffman's drug overdose, actor and comedian Russell Brand joined Oprah to take a critical look at the deep impact of drug addiction on "Oprah Prime."
"The way that drug addicts regard the issue is that it never really goes away," Brand says in the above video. "That it's always there, dormant. And if something provokes it, you'll be back out there."
That's why Brand, a recovering drug addict, says he can never use again. "I know that about myself. I know that the reason why I won't use drugs today or drink today is because I know I can't manage it," he says. "If there's a crack in the door, it's a seductive idea that maybe you can use again, maybe you can control it."
The first thing addicts have to do, Brand says, is accept that that's not an option, and you have to take it one day at a time.
"If anything positive can come out of the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, it's that -- that his death doesn't make sense unless you accept that addiction is an illness," Brand says. "It doesn't make sense any other way. Otherwise, ultimately, why did he do that?"
Oprah's in-depth look at addiction on "Oprah Prime" airs Sunday, March 9 at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.
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