Report raises questions over UK drug enforcement approach

Tough anti-drug laws have no obvious impact on the level of drug misuse, according to a report for the UK Government.

The report compares the approach in the UK with that in 13 other countries, in particular Portugal, where possession of small amounts of drugs has been treated as a health rather than a criminal issue since 2001. It finds that there has since been a "considerable" improvement in the health of drug users in that country.

Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister Norman Baker said the findings called into question the "lazy assumption" that harsher penalties meant reduced drug use. "There is no evidence for that at all", he commented.

However Conservatives insist that drugs will not be decrimialised. "Our drugs strategy is working and there is a long-term downward trend in drug misuse in the UK", a Home Office spokesperson said.

The report looks at a range of approaches, from zero tolerance to decriminalisation, concluding that drug use is influenced by factors "more complex and nuanced than legislation and enforcement alone".

At the same time a separate expert report, to be published with the research, calls for a general ban on the sale and trade in "legal highs" – though not on their possession or use. Substances with "minimal" psychoactive effects, such as alcohol, tobacco, tea and coffee, would not be caught.

A similar ban already exists in the Republic of Ireland, but Mr Baker said the Government would have to ensure that it would also work in this country.

It is understood that publication of both reports has been delayed because of differences between the coalition parties over the issues raised.