LEGALIZING POT WOULD SAVE $1.6BN

Legalisation of cannabis could save the taxpayer more than $1.6bn, MPs
will be told in an independent report.

And a new poll published today underlines the growing strength of
support for the legalisation of cannabis, with 66 per cent in favour
of making the drug freely available. The poll, which was carried out
by MORI, also shows that 55 per cent of Britons support its sale
through licensed government outlets.

Tony Blair yesterday was resisting the growing cross-party demands for
a Royal Commission on cannabis, but the report by the respected House
of Commons library could undermine his stand.

Mr Blair was already facing difficulty after Yvette Cooper, the Health
Minister, joined the growing list of politicians who have confessed to
using the drug.

Mr Blair was forced to give the green light to other ministers who
want to confess to their own use of the drug. He said he would not gag
them from confessing about using drugs at university. "It's up to
people to decide what they want to do," he said.

Pressed about Ms Cooper's confession, Mr Blair said: "I don't think
it's important. What is important is making sure we fight organised
crime and the drugs trade properly."

The Commons Library research paper says that cannabis users are
costing Britain $790m a year on police, courts and prisons. That will
give further ammunition to those senior police officers who have
warned against wasting resources by cracking down on soft drug users.

The report says that assuming legalised cannabis products would be
subject to the same levels of duty as currently paid on cigarettes,
"Government revenue would increase by approximately $1bn a year,
suggesting a [total] gain to the public purse of around about $1.6bn a
year".

Martin Salter, the Labour backbench MP for Reading West, who is
leading the campaign for a Royal Commission on cannabis to be set up,
said: "There is now an unanswerable case for an inquiry to look at all
aspects of cannabis use.".

The cannabis row may have damaged the Tories. The latest NOP poll
shows that Labour has regained a seven-point lead - by 42 per cent to
35 per cent - over the Tories, in the wake of confusion among senior
Conservatives about "zero tolerance" on soft drugs and following
confessions by eight front-benchers that they had taken the drug.