Cannabis ruling boosts MP's Bill

Two Welsh MPs have welcomed the UK Government's plans to relax the law on cannabis use.

Jon Owen Jones, MP for Cardiff Central, is due to table a Bill on Friday in the House of Commons calling for the drug to be legalised.

The Cardiff Central MP wants to decriminalise the drug for recreational and medicinal use.

Relaxation: Cannabis has been re-classified

The proposal has been boosted by the decision of Home Secretary David Blunkett to reclassify cannabis from a class B drug to class C.

This effectively means that cannabis use will no longer be an arrestable offence, directing valuable police resources to tackle hard drug offences, involving heroin and cocaine.

But Mr Jones said the government's plans do not go far enough and will leave the supply of cannabis in the hands of criminals.

Mr Jones has been backed by Newport West MP Paul Flynn, who has previously supported the decriminalisation of cannabis.

The Newport West Labour MP, Paul Flynn, said it was a turning point - a sensible first step on the road to decriminalisation.

But the Association of Chief Police Officers called for more consultation with medical experts before the drug is reclassified.

Paul Flynn MP: 'Welcomes government moves'

Mr Jones published a private member's bill on the issue in Westminster on Thursday morning after being granted parliamentary time to put his case forward.

Mr Jones has previously confessed to smoking cannabis as a student.

He wants the drug licensed for sale alongside alcohol at premises such as off licences because, he says, it is less harmful than tobacco and alcoholic drinks.

He has said government policies toward cannabis were not working, despite towing the party line as Welsh Health Minister between 1998 and 1999.

In the summer, Conservative MP Peter Lilley also called for the drug's legalisation in an effort to break the criminal link between hard and soft drugs.

Mr Jones said in his defence at the time: "It produces huge profits for organised crime which is able to use those profits to sell other, much more harmful drugs to people.

"It is working to create huge profits on which an international drug cartel works and that undermines civic society."

Some scientific evidence has emerged to suggest cannabis may be useful in treating a wide range of conditions.

Some tests have indicated it could help reduce side effects of chemotherapy treatment given to cancer patients.

Official Home Office figures show a third of adults in England and Wales have used the drug.