Lib Dems hope to deal to drug laws

Possessing drugs would still be illegal, but nobody would go to jail under the Liberal Democrats' reform plan. Photo / Supplied

Britain's Liberal Democrats are to call for the decriminalisation of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, in an effort to cut levels of addiction.

The party's conference is preparing to back demands for Britain's 40-year-old "harmful" and "ineffective" drug laws to be replaced with an entirely new strategy for tackling drug use.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who has previously supported drug decriminalisation, is understood to be relaxed about his party committing to such a contentious policy.

But it is bound to provoke tensions with the party's Conservative coalition partners, who strongly oppose reform of drugs laws.

The Liberal Democrats look certain to call for the immediate establishment of an expert panel to draw up plans to decriminalise all illicit substances.

The proposed reform is based on legislation in Portugal, where personal use of any controlled drug is no longer a criminal offence.

Although it would still be illegal to possess such drugs, users would no longer face a jail sentence or fine, but would instead be required to have treatment or counselling. Penalties for dealing would remain.

A motion to be debated by the conference says: "Individuals, especially young people, can be damaged both by the imposition of criminal records and by a drug habit. The priority for those addicted to all substances must be healthcare, education and rehabilitation, not punishment."

It says countries and states that have decriminalised possession of drugs have not experienced increased use.

The motion adds that "heroin maintenance clinics" set up in Switzerland and the Netherlands as an alternative to jail for addicts have had great success in reducing crime and the prevalence of hard drugs.

And it points to the call from the Global Commission on Drugs Policy, headed by the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, for governments around the world to consider the regulation of drugs.

The conference motion also suggests the expert panel prepares alternative proposals for the creation of a "strictly controlled and regulated cannabis market".

Senior Liberal Democrat sources predicted yesterday that the motion would be overwhelmingly passed.

"This is not a proposal from a lunatic fringe," said one. "It is a recognition of the failure of drugs policies in Britain and across the world."

The vote in favour of the moves would not guarantee their inclusion in their next election manifesto, but the party leadership made clear it was sympathetic to the calls.

The Liberal Democrats have consistently argued that drug laws should be based on scientific advice, but have never committed themselves to decriminalisation.

The director of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, Danny Kushlick, said: "We're delighted because this enables a historically taboo area to be publicly debated. It should pave the way for the other big parties to engage seriously in a non-party political way in how to deal with one of the big problems facing the UK."

Last year, former drugs minister Bob Ainsworth became the most senior politician to back decriminalisation.

The Labour MP said it would be better for addicts to receive fixes on prescription rather than relying for their supply on criminal gangs.

He said his departure from the front bench meant he could express his view that the "war on drugs has been nothing short of a disaster".

Under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, illicit substances are divided into three categories. Possession of class A drugs, which include heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, Ecstasy and LSD, carries the harshest penalties.

Class B drugs include cannabis and amphetamines, and such substance as ketamine, GHB, many tranquilisers and anabolic steroids are in class C.

- INDEPENDENT