One of the front-runners to become Tory candidate for Billericay has backed Teresa Gorman's calls for a relaxing of drug laws.

Telegraph columnist Paul Goodman is among those shortlisted to stand in the high-profile fight to hold on to her seat at next year's General Election.

His comments are poised to reignite a vociferous debate among those in Mrs Gorman's staunchly Conservative constituency.

Writing for the Sunday Telegraph in 1995, he called for Mafia drug gangs to be run out of society.

He wrote: "The question is not whether we wish to live in a world in which drug use is part of the mainstream culture. For better or worse, such a world is the one we will soon inhabit.

"The question, rather, is whether it is to be dominated by the Mafia's or not, making the maintenance of civilised life impossible.

"If such an end is to be avoided, legalisation - with advertising controls, limited outlets, age controls, and state approval of operators - is the only route now open.

"Certainly, our international obligations must be taken into account. Nevertheless, legalisation must come - and the sooner the better."

Mrs Gorman only recently caused controversy when supported the campaign for Amsterdam-style Cannabis coffee houses to be trialled in the UK.

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