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Drugs policy report sparks coalition row

A row has erupted at the top of the coalition after a Home Office report on drug abuse re-opened differences between Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the survey - which found the "toughness" of a country's drug enforcement policy did not affect the level of substance abuse - showed the "war on drugs" was failing.

The dispute, which his been festering for months, broke out after the Home Office finally agreed to release the report - which the Lib Dems had originally commissioned - comparing drugs policies in different countries.

Appearing on his weekly LBC radio phone-in, Mr Clegg complained that the Conservatives had tried to block its release.

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Cameron: I don't believe in decriminalising drugs

The Prime Minister has defended the government's track record on drugs saying that "drug use is falling" and that "the evidence is that what we are doing is working".

"I don't believe in decriminalising drugs," he said, adding that the Home Office report does not justify any one approach over another.

He was speaking at an 02 call centre in Runcorn, Cheshire.

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