An independent panel should consider legalising cannabis in the UK as part of a wide-ranging review of drug laws, the Liberal Democrats said yesterday.

The experts should also consider whether possession of any currently illegal drug should remain a criminal offence.

The motion was passed by the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham as a senior lawyer told activists that current drug policy is not working.

Alistair Webster QC, a crown court recorder and chairman of the Lib Dem lawyers association, told the conference: “I have practised in the courts, both as an advocate and judge, for over 30 years and it’s plain to anybody who has spent time in that way that the drug policy which we have followed since 1967 is not working.”

He acknowledged that “decriminalisation, per se, carries with it its own problems” but said the motion called for an “intelligent reassessment - start again, look again and see where we can get it better”.

Ewan Hoyle, from South Glasgow, proposed the policy and told the conference that politicians had not tackled the issue because of “cowardice” in the face of a potentially hostile backlash in the press. Mr Hoyle called for cannabis to be sold in chemist shops where it could be regulated.

He said: “The motion calls for models of cannabis regulation to be investigated. I personally favour sale from pharmacies.

“If we want to send a message that cannabis is harmful – and we should – how better to do so than through a health professional at the point of intended purchase? No pharmacist is going to suggest the customer progresses to the use of heroin or crack. And no pharmacist would sell to a child.”

Mr Hoyle said in Portugal and Switzerland they had followed expert advice to treat drug use as a medical rather than a moral or criminal issue.