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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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Decriminalising drugs 'cut addiction in Portugal by half'

Decriminalising drugs in Portugal cut addiction by 50%, the country's national drugs co-ordinator said.

Joao Goulao told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We had around 100,000 people hooked on heroin, which is 1% of our population, and now we estimate that we have half of that."

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