Drugs Reform: 'Now Or Never', Say MPs

David Cameron has rejected calls to consider legalising drugs, insisting that the current strategy is working.

The Prime Minister dismissed calls from a cross-party group of MPs to hold a wide-ranging Royal Commission to look at alternatives, including legalisation.

The Commons Home Affairs Committee claimed Britain had failed to combat major drug dealers and needed to switch approach.

It said the UK could learn from Portugal, where drugs have been "depenalised" and the possession of small amounts does not attract criminal punishment.

Changes in Colorado and Washington, where cannabis is being legalised, and Uruguay where a state monopoly of cannabis production and sale is proposed, should also be studied, it said.

The committee wants the Prime Minister to establish a Royal Commission to start a public debate about drug policy.

Chairman Keith Vaz said that action was now imperative and ministers could not afford to "kick this issue into the long grass".

But Mr Cameron, on a visit to Cambridge, said: "I don't support decriminalisation. We have a policy which actually is working in Britain.

"Drugs use is coming down, the emphasis on treatment is absolutely right, and we need to continue with that to make sure we can really make a difference. Also, we need to do more to keep drugs out of our prisons.

"These are the Government's priorities and I think we should continue with that rather than have some very, very long-term Royal Commission."

His views are at odds with the committee which concluded after a year-long inquiry that efforts to tackle drug barons had failed and there was not enough focus on helping users break their habits.

MPs had asked for a Royal Commission to be set up immediately and ordered to report back by 2015.

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

"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 called on ministers to open discussions with the United Nations Commission on Drugs on issues including "the possibility of legalisation and regulation".

And it was highly critical of the Government's failure to hit the profits of drugs gangs, saying its approach to money laundering was "far too weak".

It wants senior officials in banks responsible for laundering cash made in drug deals to be prosecuted, as well as for better drugs education in schools.

The law should also be amended so that retailers who sell untested "legal highs" can be held liable for any harm the products cause, the committee recommended.

Mr Vaz said: "There is no doubt that we have failed to deal with the dealers and we have not focused on the users. Only with this twin approach will we break the devastating cycle of drug addiction in society.

"Drugs cost thousands of lives and the taxpayer billions of pounds each year. This is a critical, now or never moment for serious reform. If we do not act now, future generations will be crippled by the social and financial burden of addiction."

However, Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of the mental health charity Sane , expressed concern about the possible impact on cannabis use.

"If the report is to be responsible, it must take account of the specific damage that cannabis can do to the developing brain, not only as recent studies have shown inducing irreversible cognitive deterioration but in around 10% of cases triggering severe psychotic illness," she said.