Move to legalise cannabis is blocked

A move to legalise cannabis by Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb has been blocked by MPS.

Mr Lamb brought a Ten Minute Rule Bill to the Commons on the issue because he said existing laws were “cruel and inhuman” and “hand billions of pounds every year to organised crime”.

But his Cannabis (Legalisation and Regulation) Bill failed to pass the first stage and was blocked by a majority of 14 Conservative MPS.

Mr Lamb outlined the “postcode lottery” of policing and highlighted the “dreadful hypocrisy” of alcohol being legal, taxed and widely enjoyed by MPS in Westminster.

He said: “Isn’t there a dreadful hypocrisy that we allow our drug of choice whilst criminalising people who use another, less dangerous drug, many for the relief of pain?

“My Bill offers a more rational alternative to this mess, with strict regulation of the growing sale and marketing of cannabis. We can at last start to protect children and teenagers.

“We can start to take some of the violence and intimidation off our streets and restore order in our poorest communities, and we can free up police time to focus on serious crime.”

But Mr Lamb’s Bill was contested by Conservative MP Steve Double, who labelled cannabis “dangerous” and “a gateway drug”.