Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has backed calls for a royal commission to consider decriminalising illegal drugs, despite opposition from David Cameron.
The PM has rejected the Home Affairs Select Committee's report highlighting Portugal's approach, where people found with drugs are not always prosecuted.
But Mr Clegg told the BBC the government needed to be open-minded and look at alternative approaches.
Downing Street said there would be differences of opinion in a coalition.
Mr Clegg said different politicians of different parties were entitled to take a different view on "how we have another look at how we deal with drugs".
"We can't be complacent, we owe it to the many many children in this country who still get snarled up by drugs, whose education chances are blighted by drugs, whose health is damaged by drugs, we owe it to them to constantly restlessly look for better ways of dealing with the scourge of drugs," he said.
"Start Quote
End QuoteAt their party conference last year, the Liberal Democrats voted to establish a panel to consider decriminalising the use of all drugs"
"After all, this is a war, the war on drugs, in which over 2,000 people are losing their lives in Britain every year, in which one in five 11-15 year olds in this country now say they're trying drugs, where young people now are telling us that it's easier to get hold of drugs than it is to get hold of alcohol or tobacco.
"I think those facts alone suggest that, yes of course we should do the good work that we are doing as a coalition government, but we should also be open-minded enough to look at whatever alternative approaches help us help those children more effectively in the future."
Mr Clegg added: "My own view is that we simply cannot be content with the way things are. The worse thing to do is to close your mind off from doing even better."
On his decision to speak on the issue despite the prime minister's opposition Mr Clegg said: "Both the PM and I are relaxed about the idea that this isn't an identikit government, the home secretary and indeed the PM are perfectly entitled to say they want the government's present approach to be given a chance to work, and don't want the distraction of a commission."
A royal commission is a public inquiry created by the head of state into a defined subject and overseen by a commissioner who has quasi-judicial powers.
Analysis
Decriminalising and legalisation of drugs are not the same.
If controlled drugs like heroin, cannabis and Ecstasy were legal, they would be freely available to buy in the same way as an adult can buy beer: anyone could trade in them.
Hypothetically, if prohibited drugs were decriminalised, the government would license and attempt to control manufacture, quality, purity and supply - and possession for personal use would not lead to prosecution.
But if you tried to trade in the drugs by offering your own supply, you would still fall foul of the law.
Supporters of decriminalisation say it should be combined with diverting money from police to drug treatment services because criminal trafficking would dry up.
The government says decriminalisation sends the wrong message and encourages young people to assume substances are not harmful.
Official figures show that drug use in England and Wales is at its lowest rate under current measurements since 1996.
However, there is concern over the growth and prevalence of "legal highs", some of which have been subsequently banned, amid a recorded rise in deaths linked to their use.
The report from the Home Affairs Select Committee stopped short of supporting a relaxation of legal sanctions for drug use, as suggested by experts at the UK Drug Policy Commission in October, but it did call on ministers to look in detail at the idea.
A Number 10 spokeswoman said the prime minister believed the government was making progress in reducing drug usage and the current policy was working.
She said a royal commission "would take some time and might not be the answer".
"There will be occasions in a coalition when there are differences of opinion," she added.
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