'On cannabis, there are good arguments on both sides. But there is no case for this massive muddle in the middle'

Michael Howard reveals how four people smoking dope helped to influence a tough new Conservative policy on drugs

When Michael Howard was stuck in traffic on Vauxhall Bridge in London last year, a car containing four people drew up alongside him. One of them smiled: "Hello, Mr Howard. We're all smoking cannabis. But don't worry, we're on our way to Brixton" - where there was an experiment with a "softly, softly" approach to the drug.

The incident returned to the Tory leader's mind recently as he drew up his party's policy on drugs, which he will unveil today. The confusing, patchwork approach to the law on drugs during the Lambeth project, he believes, will be writ nationwide next week when cannabis is reclassified from a Class B to a Class C drug.

The former home secretary, who will announce that a future Tory government would reverse the change, is at pains to stress that his policy is not a knee-jerk reaction but an example of what he calls "grown-up politics".

In an interview with The Independent, he said: "This is not a simple argument about being hard on drugs or soft on drugs. There are two perfectly arguable positions you can hold on the question of cannabis. One is to say that it should be legalised. There are arguments which I understand for that - about personal liberty and that it would cut links with dealers.

"There are arguments for keeping it as it is now - everyone knows where they stand; it is a Class B drug; all the consequences of the criminal law are available and it sends a message that it is an activity which is against the law. It seems to me that there is absolutely no case for what is a massive muddle in the middle."

The muddle is perfectly illustrated, Mr Howard argued, by the Government's decision to reclassify other drugs already in Class C by increasing the penalties for certain offences connected with their use. "The maximum sentence of imprisonment for possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply is 14 years. The maximum for Class C drugs is at the moment five years - these include aspirin derivatives, anabolic steroids, for which you need some controls but are not substances which come into anything like the same category as cannabis.

"In order to address some of the muddle which is a consequence of their proposals, the Government will increase the maximum sentence for possession with intent to supply these aspirin derivatives from five to 14 years. It is Yes Minister gone mad. It is an absolutely absurd state of affairs."

The practical consequences of the Government's decision will be alarming, the Tory leader warned. He pointed to the guidelines produced by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), which say there should be a "presumption against arrest" for possessing cannabis.

In practice, in a majority of cases, police officers will issue a warning and confiscate the drug. "What is the warning to consist of?" he asked. "'If we find you with cannabis in future, we will warn you again.' What conceivable effect is that likely to have?"

The Acpo guidelines say that arrest will be considered if a person is repeatedly found in possession of cannabis.

"How are the police going to know whether there is repeated possession of the drug unless they keep detailed records of every time they warn somebody for possession?

"If they are going to do that, how can it be claimed that this will give the police more time and resources to focus on Class A drugs? So there is absolutely no logic in the Government's position."

The Tories have "thought very carefully" about which of the two realistic positions to adopt. "I think that if you legalise cannabis it is bound to lead to increased use of cannabis. There is a growing amount of evidence that the cannabis being used today is increasingly powerful - skunk in particular - and the medical evidence increasingly supports the view that cannabis can have an effect on mental health.

"Taking all those things into consideration, we have come to the view that the Government's decision is completely misconceived and when we return to office, we will reclassify cannabis back to Class B." He cited as "extremely instructive" the experience of Sweden - which is often held up as a beacon social democratic nation by New Labour.

"They did virtually what the Government is going to do next week. After a relatively short period of time, they went back to where they had been before. I think we should learn from their experience."

The profiles of Mr Howard since he became Tory leader last November have portrayed a Beatles fan who enjoyed life in the Sixties. So it seemed legitimate to ask him whether he had smoked cannabis. "It is not a question I am going to answer," he said with a grin. "If I did, people would be all around my colleagues and everybody else asking the same question and I don't think that's a very sensible exercise."

Mr Howard is well aware that Ann Widdecombe's hardline policy, announced at the Tories' annual conference in 2000, disintegrated into chaos after several Shadow Cabinet colleagues admitted they had smoked cannabis. "We have got to be grown up about this and deal with the problem. I am sure I know people who smoke cannabis - I don't know who they are," he said.

His wife, Sandra, is a director of the Addaction drug charity, which welcomes next week's change in the law but shares Mr Howard's concern that it might lead people to think that cannabis is being decriminalised. Does her interest stem from a personal experience with drugs in her days as a model? "Not that I am aware of - and the same answer applies," he said.

Mr Howard is preparing for his toughest test since becoming party leader. He dismissed the idea that he will be under pressure - responding to Tony Blair's Commons statement on Lord Hutton's report into the death of David Kelly next Wednesday - as "the most absurd of all the diversionary tactics that Downing Street has yet invented".

He explained: "My job is to ask questions and to hold the Government to account. The Hutton inquiry isn't into anything I've done."

Today's announcement on tax cuts marks the start of a new phase in which he will translate the principles he has outlined in his first three months as leader into detailed policies.

At the heart of the Tory dilemma will be the balance between cutting taxes and safeguarding public services.

He denied there was any contradiction, hinting that tax cuts would be funded by eradicating government waste. "If we can identify the way in which we are going to save the money, how can it possibly affect our plans for the public services?

"It is dependent on our finding the waste and the savings. I have not given a guarantee. I very much hope we will be able to identify savings which will enable us to promise tax cuts at the election but we will only do that if it is the responsible thing to do," he said.

Mr Howard is "grown up" enough to admit that the media honeymoon he has enjoyed since becoming Tory leader will not last.

But he is enjoying the job he did not expect to get in his wildest dreams. He touches the wooden table, saying: "So far so good. Not very far - there is a long way to go."