TORY ministers have suppressed a report showing that the case for locking up drug users is “nonsensical” and arguing that the case for reform is overwhelming, a senior Lib Dem claimed yesterday.

Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker delivered the latest shot in the coalition’s internecine warfare following the publication of a long-awaited Home Office report which found that the “toughness” of a country’s drug regime did not affect usage.

Mr Baker told the BBC’s Today programme: “I think the evidence personally is so overwhelming that the present status quo is not tenable.”

He added: “The reality is that this report has been sitting around for several months. I’ve been trying to get it out and I’m afraid that I believe that my coalition colleagues who commissioned the report jointly don’t like the independent conclusions it’s reached.”

However, a Home Office spokesman said: “This government has absolutely no intention of decriminalising drugs. Our drugs strategy is working and there is a long-term downward trend in drug misuse in the UK.”