UK Police Perform Drug Swabs on Clubbers

Police in the United Kingdom are regularly conducting drug tests on people waiting in line for clubs in an attempt to deter drug use.

In August this year, Scottish police took random swabs from the hands of people while they queued up for the popular ‘Club Tropicana’ in the city of Aberdeen. Police then ran the samples through a computer to detect the presence of cocaine, amphetamines, rohypnol, heroin and cannabis.

Police also had a sniffer dog and CCTV van on hand to catch people in possession of drugs.

But after two nights of testing hundreds of patrons, police had nothing to show for it – there were zero positive readings, no charges laid and harsh criticism from a range of groups and members of the public.

The use of this technology, known as drug “itemisers”, is not new in the UK – itemisers have been a part of UK police policy since 2002 when the first swabs were conducted in the towns of Stafford and Cannock. Yet, despite vocal opposition and serious doubts about the effectiveness of the measure, it continues to spread across the region.

The rationale is general deterrence – in other words, to send a strong message to club patrons that they will be detected and potentially prosecuted if they bring drugs to clubs, thereby deterring them from bringing drugs in the first place.

However, it has not had a discernible effect on the use of drugs in the UK, or drug fatalities. In fact, drug related deaths in England and Wales hit their all-time peak last year.

Critics of itemisers say that drug users will simply ‘load up’ on drugs before going out, which can lead to overdoses.

There are also concerns that current UK laws allow police to target particular groups, especially ethnic minorities, who are more likely to be swabbed.

“Suspicion on Reasonable Grounds”

Under NSW law, police can only conduct a drug search upon someone without a warrant if they have a suspicion “on reasonable grounds” that drugs are on the person at that particular time (section 21 of the Law Enforcement (Powers & Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW) “LEPRA”). This is similar to the law in the UK.

In NSW, ‘suspicion on reasonable grounds’ means more than a possibility, but can be less than an actual belief. This essentially means that police cannot randomly or arbitrarily search people: there must be some factual basis that makes their “suspicion” more than just a possibility (R v Rondo (2001) 126 A Crim R 562).

To get the “reasonable grounds” requirement, police in the UK make the swab “voluntary”, telling clubbers that they will be denied entry if they refuse to be swabbed. By doing this, police are not engaging in unauthorised touching – which could amount to an assault. Critics argue that the requirement to obtain consent undermines the effectiveness of the whole process – as anyone who recently handled drugs, or who has drugs in their possession, will simply refuse to be swabbed, and that refusal would not, by itself, be enough to ground the suspicion required for a search.

For those that volunteer to be tested, there are three possible results: green, amber or red. Those given a green reading are allowed to enter the club. Those who get amber are refused entry and are given a drug information pack. Those who get a red reading will normally be searched by police, and arrested if drugs are found on them.

It should be noted that the law relating to the use of itemiser technology is different to the use of drug sniffer dogs, because a positive indication by a drug detection dog does not require touching and is not considered to be a “search”. Indeed, police are required to actively prevent drug dogs from touching people during the detection process.

Moreover, the use of drug sniffer dogs is allowed under section section 148 of LEPRA, which says that police can use sniffer dogs for general drug detection without a warrant upon people who are:

• At, entering or leaving a premises that has a liquor licence, other than a place primarily used as a restaurant or dining place,

• At, entering or leaving a public place used for a sporting or other public event,

• On, or seeking to enter or leave a public transport station or stop,

• At a tattoo parlour, or

• At any public place in the Kings Cross precinct.

Itemisers are already used at Australian airports, but whether their will spread to clubs and festivals remains to be seen.