London - The outgoing chief inspector of Britain's prisons yesterday called for drug taking to be decriminalised. Sir David Ramsbotham said his experience of the jail system has convinced him for the need to tackle the drug trade as a major cause of crime.
The former deputy leader of the Conservative Party, Mr Peter Lilley, argued on Friday that cannabis should be legalised and sold though licensed outlets.
Sir David told BBC Radio 4's A Parting Shot on Prisons: "The more I think about it and the more I look at what's happening, the more I can see the logic of legalising drugs, because the misery that is caused by the people who are making criminal profit is so appalling, and the sums are so great that are being made illegally . . . that I think there is merit in legalising and prescribing, or whatever, so people don't have to go and find an illegal way of doing it."
Speaking during a visit to a drug-free wing at Bullingdon Prison in Oxfordshire, he said his time in the job had heavily influenced his views.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, yesterday opened the door to a possible rethink of the government's position on reform of the cannabis law, calling for an "adult, intelligent" debate on the issue.
He stressed he would not be rushed into any quick decisions on legalisation or decriminalisation of the drug and cautioned that there was no "easy way forward".