STUDENTS were on a high last night after listening to a heated debate which led to a majority voting in favour of legalising cannabis.

The debate at the Oxford Union ended with 288 backing the motion that "This House would legalise cannabis" and 177 against.

Key speakers at last night's debate were one-time drug smuggler turned best-selling author Howard Marks, and Paul Betts, whose daughter Leah died after taking ecstasy on her 18th birthday.

Mr Marks, the celebrity criminal who was once a Balliol undergraduate, told a packed debating chamber that among the many things that could be done with cannabis were rope and paper-making, its use as a cooking oil and its beneficial effects for people suffering from, for example, multiple sclerosis, cancer or rheumatism.

"It does have other uses apart from textiles, physical nourishment, or medication. Some people use it as a recreational drug," he said.

"At least ten per cent of the population have used cannabis - more than the number who regularly attend church. More than two-thirds of voters under 25 use cannabis but cannabis is a drug."

At one point in his career Mr Marks was smuggling 50 tonnes of cannabis into the US and Europe while using 43 different aliases and running 25 companies to disguise his drug dealing. In 1989 he was tried in the US and served six months of a 25-year sentence before being released on parole when he wrote his autobiography Mr Nice.

He said: "I can speak with total authority. It is easy to smuggle cannabis into this country. It is easy to grow cannabis in one's back garden or wardrobe. People will sell cannabis because it's easy, the profits are high and the risks are low.

"There is a high demand for cannabis which is being supplied by criminals. I know, I was one."

The attempt to prohibit cannabis by making it illegal was unethical and immoral, he added. It had been the cause of violent crime and encouraged dealers to add toxic substances to hashish.

"The business is so profitable that those involved have fights over patches. They can afford to buy guns - guns are bad.

"Any society which continues to implement an increasingly failing policy is insane." Mr Betts pointed out that cannabis, just because it was a plant, was not necessarily harmless. Both heroin and cocaine were plant-derived, as was tobacco, which kills 100,000 people a year.

He said, among the harmful effects of cannabis were its links with oral cancer; reduced sperm count; increased risk of birth defects if smoked by pregnant women; potential to lead to psychosis; damage to brain cells; impaired reactions; psychological dependency; and the risk of developing illnesses that resembled Parkinson's Disease. If cannabis was legalised one of the main groups to benefit would be the dealers.

"They would become legal business people earning thousands if not millions of pounds. Do you honestly believe the drug dealing Mafia will stop selling drugs and revert to selling oranges and olive oil?"

Mr Betts argued against a change in the law, saying it would be better to educate judges and magistrates about drug use and drug users.

"Sixty per cent may have tried cannabis but only ten per cent may continue with it. Do we legalise for the minority? The laws are there to protect the majority and they do not need changing," he said.

"If we legalise cannabis will there be a list of professionals who cannot use it? If your dentist has just had a couple of spliffs would you feel happy sitting in that chair with that person poking about in your gob?

"What about a pilot, flying the plane that you are on? Happy holidays."

Other speakers at last night's debate included: Graham Ball, head of the Independent on Sunday's campaign to decriminalise cannabis; Greg Poulter, deputy director of Release; Chief Supt Brian Mackenzie, president of the Police Superintendents' Association; and MPs Brian Iddon and Patrick Nicholls.

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