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Britain should LEGALISE cannabis because war on drug ‘has been irreversibly lost’, says ex-Tory leader William Hague.

Former Tory leader William Hague has said that cannabis should be legalised because the war on the drug has been ‘comprehensively and irreversibly lost’ in Britain.

Mr Hague said expecting police to rid the streets of recreational cannabis is futile and called on Theresa May to be ‘bold’ and introduce a ‘major change’ in policy.

He said the case of Billy Caldwell – an epileptic child who needs cannabis oil to treat his life-threatening seizures – shows that current laws on the drug are ‘utterly out of date’.

In an extraordinary intervention Mr Hague said that the battle with criminal gangs selling the drug was ‘lost’ and ‘over’.

Selling cannabis in regulated shops would also bring in billions in new tax revenues and free police to concentrate on either crimes.

Canada has this year voted to legalise cannabis and recreational marijuana sales became legal in California on January 1 this year, following a number of other US states.

Former Tory leader William Hague said the war on marijuana had been ‘comprehensively and irreversibly lost’

Following Cabinet discussions about medicinal cannabis, Lord Hague went further and said the Prime Minister should be ‘bold’ and introduce a ‘major change’ in policy.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Lord Hague added: ‘The idea that this can be driven off the streets and out of people’s lives by the state is deluded.

‘Cannabis is ubiquitous, and issuing orders to the police to defeat its use is about as up to date and relevant as asking the Army to recover the Empire. The battle is effectively over.’

Billy Caldwell, 12, was discharged from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where doctors were bowled over by the effects of the oil, which he needs to suppress up to 100 fits a day.

As her son hugged her outside the hospital yesterday, Miss Caldwell said she felt ‘elated’.

Billy still has to return to the hospital twice a day to receive the oil, so they are staying in a nearby flat, paid for by well-wishers.

However, questions remain over what will happen with the special 35-day licence granted by Home Secretary Sajid Javid expires.