British MPs to consider drugs decriminalisation system

The Home Affairs Committee said it was impressed with the approach to cutting drug use where people found with small amounts are not always prosecuted.

It also asks ministers to monitor the effects of cannabis legalisation in other parts of the world.

The Home Office rejected its call for a Royal Commission on UK drugs policy, saying that was "not necessary".

Official figures show that drug use in England and Wales is at its lowest rate under current measurements since 1996.

However, there is concern over the growth and prevalence of "legal highs", some of which are banned, amid a recorded rise in deaths linked to their use.

The committee stops short of supporting a relaxation of legal sanctions for drug use, as suggested by experts at the UK Drug Policy Commission in October, but it does call on ministers to look in detail at the idea.

In its wide-ranging report, the cross-party Home Affairs Committee said MPs had visited Portugal as part of attempts to understand different systems of decriminalisation which were being used around the world to manage the harm of drugs, rather than just hand out penalties for their use.

Portugal has not legalised drugs - but it has a system of not imposing criminal penalties on drug users who enter into special programmes designed to end their habit.

"We were impressed by what we saw of the Portuguese depenalised system," said the MPs. "It had clearly reduced public concern about drug use in that country, and was supported by all political parties and the police.

"The current political debate in Portugal is about how treatment is funded... not about depenalisation itself.

"Although it is not certain that the Portuguese experience could be replicated in the UK, given societal differences, we believe this is a model that merits significantly closer consideration."

The committee urged ministers to monitor the effect of plans for cannabis legalisation in the US states of Colorado and Washington and in Uruguay,

The MPs said that although drugs use was falling, it said the impact of their use still cost billions and that there were questions over whether the international strategy was working.

"The drugs trade is the most lucrative form of crime, affecting most countries, if not every country in the world," said the MPs.

"The principle aim of government drugs policy should be first and foremost to minimise the damage caused to the victims of drug-related crime, drug users and others."