Drug pressure groups yesterday welcomed the call to legalise cannabis by the former Conservative deputy leader, Mr Peter Lilley, but several senior Tories condemned the proposal as unhelpful.
Mr Lilley's "personal responsibility" stance on cannabis - he is the first such senior figure in the party to adopt this approach - will alarm traditional Conservatives about to take part in the election of a new leader to succeed Mr William Hague
Writing in the Daily Telegraph and in a pamphlet for the Social Market Foundation think tank, Mr Lilley said that one of the party's biggest handicaps in the general election was the perception that its crime policies were punitive. He also said cannabis could be sold in government-approved outlets.
"I concluded, as did Lancet, the medical journal, that there is no way that taking cannabis encourages you chemically, or predisposes you to taking hard drugs," he wrote. "What we have actually is the perverse situation that by making cannabis illegal it is only available through illegal sources, which are the same channels that handle hard drugs."
The drug charity Release said Mr Lilley's intervention would encourage "a more sophisticated discussion" on cannabis use - 25 per cent of adults in Britain have used cannabis.
But the shadow home secretary, Ms Ann Widdecombe, said she doubted that drug dealers would simply "go home" if cannabis were legalised.
The leadership contender Mr Kenneth Clarke insisted that legalisation would lead to widespread drug use, and Mr Michael Portillo, also bidding for the leadership, has said that while he is undecided on the issue, the party should be prepared to engage in a meaningful debate.
In Wales, the Deputy First Minister, Mr Michael German, yesterday temporarily stepped down from his post after police launched a formal investigation into his past business affairs. The Liberal Democrat leader in the Welsh Assembly said he did not believe the Lib-Lab coalition would collapse following the development.