Scepticism on Lib Dem drug move

Cannabis is smoked by millions in the UK

The Liberal Democrats' vote to support the legalisation of cannabis has been received with scepticism by Tories and drugs workers.

The vote is the first by a mainstream UK party and was accompanied by radical moves on other drugs.

On Saturday, the party also voted to end imprisonment for the possession of any illegal drug - including heroin and cocaine.

The cannabis that is being smoked today is vastly more powerful than what was going on when I was a student

Oliver Letwin
Shadow home secretary

They also backed the downgrading of ecstasy from a Class A to a Class B drug.

As well as supporting cannabis decriminalisation, the delegates also proposed full legalisation should international law allow.

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin said there was "no easy answer" to the drugs menace but said there was no evidence it would be reduced by decriminalising cannabis.

He said all parties agreed drug dependency in the UK ought to be much lower, and admitted the traditional method of fighting drugs had failed.

"I don't see any sign of the Liberal Democrats or indeed the government currently having, and we need to develop, a policy for actually reducing drug dependency across the spectrum of drugs," he told BBC One's Frost programme.

'Spiked' pipe

"Simply decriminalising it is not an answer to reduction."

Mr Letwin was caught up in the row in 2000 over Ann Widdecombe's proposals for zero tolerance of cannabis.

He was among those shadow cabinet members who admitted having smoked the drug, saying a friend put cannabis in his pipe at university without his knowledge.

Grading ecstasy from Class A to Class B would be foolhardy and irresponsible

Home Office

But he insisted: "The cannabis that is being smoked today is vastly more powerful than what was going on when I was a student.

"It has real effects on people's brains and their ability to have a normal life.

"We surely want to see a reduction in the dependence on it rather than an increase."

Traditional methods to battle against crime or drugs had "failed", Mr Letwin said.

"Drug dependency is on the increase, street crime is on the increase. Something is clearly wrong."

Reclassification considered

He said there was a need to "lift" the young people at risk from drug abuse.

The Home Office is also considering reclassification of cannabis.

According to the Independent on Sunday, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will this week advise Mr Blunkett to downgrade cannabis to a Class C drug, so that users could smoke it in public without fear of arrest.

The paper said the ACMD would recommend that cannabis be given the same status as prescription tranquillizers such as Valium, making its possession a non-arrestable offence.

The Home Office said Home Secretary David Blunkett was awaiting a report from his drug advisers before taking any decision.

'Dangerous drug'

The Labour party denounced the Liberal Democrats' decisions on drugs policy on Saturday.

A party spokeswoman said the party had "lost touch with the real world" where drugs policy was concerned.

"Ecstasy is a dangerous drug that kills, and grading it from Class A to Class B would be foolhardy and irresponsible," she said.

"Abolishing jail sentences for drugs like cocaine and heroin would lead to more drug use and more drug-related crime."

Roger Howard, chief executive of DrugScope, said legalisation would break UN conventions, adding: "Legalisation could possibly lead to an increase in use if cannabis becomes commercialised."