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Aberdeen pub goers to be drug tested


Chris

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BBC NEWS | Scotland | North East/N Isles | Pub-goers to be tested for drugs

Of course there's the old adage if you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear, but this is still a shocking invasion of privacy.

This could ruin people's lives without any due process or serious investigation. Imagine being on a work night out and being refused entry from a pub because this thing threw a yellow or red light, yet you might not do drugs at all just been near someone who does (friends smoking a joint at a party for example) and have some residue on your hands. Possibly an extreme example, but what's the comeback for this?

Very bad idea. Surely it would be better to train bouncers and door staff to recognise the signs that someone's out of their face and not let them in on that grounds rather than swabbing people on entry.

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"The Itemiser is already being used in pubs in England where concerns have been raised about the possibility of customers getting a positive reading simply by touching a surface where there are traces of drugs.

But a spokeswoman for the SCDEA said the device was able to tell the difference between this type of contamination and drug use."

The cops can barely cope with things as they are, they're not going to waste their time nicking someone just because they 'might have touched drugs'.

And this is not supposed to be looking for the ones who are off their faces, the bouncers should be spotting them anyway. They're after the dealers, who usually aren't. The dealers want to make sure they get in, so they'll be nice and respectable with good shoes. And 20 wraps in their pocket. Hey presto, half an hour later 20 people off their faces and already inside.

But you're right, anything that gives the door monkeys another excuse to exert their 'superiority' is a bad idea. They'll be loving it.

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This is ridiculous. Are they going to check everyone or just people they suspect have taken drugs or are dealers?

Unless they check smokers on the way back in it would be far too easy for someone to get slipped something outside and then waltz back in fully laden with drugs.

Can the machine really tell if you've taken cocaine or just been handed a tenner in your change that was used to snort cocaine half an hour ago? iirc, there's quite a high percentage of british notes that test positive for cocaine.

I also suspect that drug dealers will soon find a way of wiping the residue from their hands, most things that don't come off with soap and water can be removed with alcohol.

It's a waste of money that targets casual drug users rather than hardcore users and dealers.

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Can the machine really tell if you've taken cocaine or just been handed a tenner in your change that was used to snort cocaine half an hour ago?

False positives are a major issue with these machines. Which are a fair bit more basic than the airport/explosive detectors they are likened to.

Anyone heard of which pubs or clubs might have this foisted on them yet? So we can boycott them.

Equally, if anyone is tested & suffers a false positive, or has prescribed medication questioned, I hope they would demand a print-out of the result, take proper legal advice & lodge a complaint with both the licencing board & their MP.

Is there any idea of how these machines stand under the DPA & how the results are handled - Presumably the testing will happen in the CCTV-covered areas of pubs or clubs & could easily be correlated with the footage?

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i dont take drugs i've got nothing to hide, but i do think this is wrong, intrusive and another nail in the coffin of the freedoms our forefathers fought and died for.

simple solution for me is that i would not bother going to any pubs that have this device. further more i have never been in a situation where my night out has been "threatened" because somebody is under the influence of any drug, other than those arseholes who cant handle their booze and start fights in the street....

nuff said, publicans bring on the machine and watch your income dwindle....

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Apparantly arrests wont be made for small amounts of drugs, they will just be given a talking to or something by the police. So I don't think that we shall see lots of people arrested who have unkowingly come into some small contact with a drug.

But generally I agree that it's not a great idea.

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Quote:

Ch Insp Innes Walker, of Grampian Police, said that as a result of the trial period in October "people had a greater confidence that they could enjoy a night out without fear of encountering drugs".

I can't leave the house without the nagging fear that I might bump into someone sucking on a Fisherman's Friend. These druggies, eh?

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Guest Tam o' Shantie

can you be punished in any way legally for having traces of drug in your system? possession yeah, being caught in the act, yeah, but if someone does a fat line before going out and later tests positive...what would they be done for?

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