LORDS CANNABIS INQUIRY

A high-powered investigation into the medical and recreational use of
cannabis is to be launched by the House of Lords, with a report expected by
the end of the year.

The breakthrough Westminster inquiry comes five months after the
Independent on Sunday launched its decriminalise cannabis campaign. It
marks the biggest step yet in the drive to relax the laws on the drug's
use. To date, the Government has refused to allow a debate on the matter in
the Commons, despite calls from backbench Labour MPs.

One factor in the Lords' decision was a report in November from the British
Medical Association, urging Ministers to consider "changing the Misuse of
Drugs Act to allow the prescription of cannabinoids [active chemical
compounds in cannabis]to patients with certain conditions causing distress
that are not adequately controlled by existing treatments."

The BMA plea came after the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham, called for a
debate on the issue, saying: "It is a subject that deserves, in my
judgement, detached, objective, independent consideration."

Lord Bingham's urging will be met by the Lords Select Committeee
investigation, to be chaired by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Perry of Walton,
a former Professor of Pharmacology. The all-party investigation's terms of
reference are thought to
cover "the scientific case for and against relaxing the prohibition on the
medical and recreational use of cannabis".

The inquiry is expected to start holding public hearings, with evidence
from expert witnesses, after Easter, with a report that could be delivered
in the Autumn.