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An e-petition to legalise cannabis in Britain has got the 100,000 signatures it needs for the issue to be debated in Parliament.

As of Saturday morning, 103,833 people had signed the e-petition on the Parliament website, passing the threshold required for it to consider the issue for a debate.

That doesn't mean it definitely will be discussed by MPs, with the Parliament website stressing that it "may decide not to put a petition forward for debate if the issue has already been debated recently or there's a debate scheduled for the near future".

The petition followed the announcement earlier in the week by Durham Constabulary that the force would no prioritise cannabis users and small-scale growers in their own home.

(Image: Getty)

Ron Hogg, police and crime commissioner in Durham, said he was trying to open up a debate about drugs policy in Britain.

He said: "We are not prioritising people who have a small number of cannabis plants for their own use. In low level cases we say it is better to work with them and put them in a position where they can recover."

However, the government responded to the announcement by reaffirming that growing cannabis is still illegal.

Campaigners who created the e-petition say that cannabis is a "a substance that is safer than alcohol, and has many uses. It is believed to have been used by humans for over 4000 years, being made illegal in the UK in 1925."

The e-petition website was introduced by the previous coalition government in 2011 as a way to "build bridges between people and Parliament" following the MP expenses scandal.