'Decriminalise Drugs, Including Heroin And Cocaine'

Cannabis and ecstasy should be sold in licensed shops, with the possession and use of all illegal drugs should be decriminalised, an inquiry by a group of cross-party peers has found.

A system for testing the safety of new drugs should be introduced with low-risk substances, which could be called "Class D" sold with labels detailing their risks, like cigarette packaging, members of the all-party parliamentary group for drug policy reform said.

While the supply of the most dangerous substances should remain banned, users caught with a small quantity of any drug should not be penalised, the Inquiry found.

The controversial proposals are likely to irk the Prime Minister who recently rejected calls by MPs to set up a royal commission to consider the decriminalisation of illegal drugs.

A panel of nine Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Labour and Crossbench peers from the all-party group conducted a parliamentary inquiry into new psychoactive substances.

Presenting the Inquiry findings, chair Baroness Meacher, who is also a chair of an NHS trust, said: "The Misuse of Drugs Act is counter-productive in attempting to reduce drug addiction and other drug harms to young people."

Baroness Meacher told The Times that it would be "daft" for Class D drugs not to include substances like ecstasy and low potency cannabis. "One of the benefits of well-regulated, low-harm highs is that young people might switch to them from alcohol."

The Act, which has been in force for 40 years, is in desperate need of reform, the group said.

The remaining sections of the act in use are causing "serious risks to the many young people who are determined to experiment with drugs", the group said.

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'Decriminalise Drugs, Including Heroin And Cocaine'