The Liberal Democrats have set up an independent panel of experts to establish how a legalised market for cannabis could work in the United Kingdom.

It comes ahead of a debate in Parliament on legalisation of the production, sale and use of cannabis, which is the result of a petition to parliament with 221,019 signatures.

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman Norman Lamb wants the panel to look at evidence from Colorado, Washington State and Uruguay, where cannabis has been legalised and to make recommendations for the party to consider in the spring.

Early evidence from Colorado indicates:

Did anybody think there would be?

The debate in the Westminster Hall today (Monday) followed the submission of an e-petition to the Parliament website calling for the legalisation of cannabis, signed by 220,000 people – more than twice the number needed to gain a hearing among MPs.

Labour MP Paul Flynn, opening the debate, said: “I would like to illustrate how this Government—like all Governments—have handled this issue. It is typified by the response we had to this thunderously eloquent petition.

“The Government response begins with the statement that ‘cannabis is…harmful’.

The British government's attitude towards cannabis is the same as the American refusal to introduce strict gun controls, a Labour MP has said ahead of a parliamentary debate on the drug.

Paul Flynn said the UK had been "left behind" by many other countries, including many US states, which had decriminalised medicinal cannabis.

"We are in a position rather like America is on gun laws. Most of the rest of the world is baffled by our refusal to reform," he told The Huffington Post UK.

Today parliament will debate the legalisation of cannabis after over 200,000 people signed an online petition calling for MPs to address the issue.

Topsoil from Buckingham Palace could soon be growing marijuana as Tate Modern director Chris Dercon admitted visitors had already begun to "guerrilla garden" the new Turbine Hall exhibition.

Artist Abraham Cruzvillegas's Empty Lot features 240 wooden planters holding soil from 34 London parks and gardens - but visitors have begun throwing their own seeds onto the plots even before the sculpture officially opens.

Asked if visitors might throw the drug's seeds onto the soil, Curator Mark Godfrey said: "As to what grows - you mentioned marijuana - people might throw seeds in. We don't know."

Director Chris Dercon said that although throwing seeds will not be actively encouraged, the Tate has accepted that such plants might grow.

They will spend a whopping three hours discussing the highs and lows of legalising the production, sale and use of the drug in a Parliamentary debate.

Government bowed down to pressure to mull over the great pot debate following a 221,000 signature petition.

Drug experts will consider how a legal market for cannabis could work in Britain.

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SIGNATURES: The great pot debate follows a 221,000 signature petition

“We must end the hypocrisy of senior politicians admitting to using cannabis in younger years – and describing it as ‘youthful indiscretions’”

Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb

A 33-YEAR-OLD man who used cannabis to self-medicate decided to grow his own after having a gun pointed at him while buying on the street.

Blackburn magistrates heard Stefan Golec had been terrified by the incident.

Golec, 33, of Wordsworth Close, Oswaldtwistle, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and abstracting electricity.

He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Imran Hussain, for Golec, said his client had been involved in a serious road traffic accident six years ago which resulted in his face having to be rebuilt with metal plates. 

“He still has pain from that and uses cannabis in a medical way for pain relief,” said Mr Hussain. “When he was buying on the street he didn’t feel safe.

Just days after former Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg called for a global drugs policy reform, a Labour MP has said the war on drugs has been a "disaster" and believes cannabis should be legal in the UK.

Paul Flynn wrote an article for the Mirror saying prohibition of the drug has only madder matters worse in Britain in terms of drug use and criminality.

With MPs set to debate removing the ban, Damien Gayle looks at how the public’s view of cannabis has evolved
 

When the first controls on cannabis were introduced in the UK, few people had ever heard of it. Occasionally a foreign visitor would be arrested with hashish – but only because it was mistaken for the much more notorious opium.

Apart from the odd tabloid scare, few saw cannabis as a serious threat. The Home Office resisted calls to ban it, while one government official dismissed it as a curiosity, “occasionally taken as an experiment by persons interested in oriental vices”.

Ahead of a debate in Parliament on legalizing cannabis in the UK, the Liberal Democrats have announced a new independent panel to investigate how a legalized market could work.

The party, which was part of the last Coalition Government, say they want to examine evidence from Colorado, Washington State and Uruguay to see if lessons can be learned here.

Lib Dem Health Spokesman Norman Lamb, who was a leadership contender for the party earlier in the summer, made the announcement this morning.