Britain’s march towards INGSOC continues with news that certain Scottish pubs have started testing patrons for drugs as they walk through the door.
Scottish police will use a device called an “Itemiser” to swab the hands of patrons as they enter a pub. The machine will then give a simple, color-coded response: green (no drugs found), yellow (possible drug contamination) and red (definite drug contamination). Patrons with a green result will be welcomed into the pub. Patrons with a yellow result will be given a “drug information pack” and sent away. Patrons with a red result “may be searched by police”, and possibly arrested if drugs are found. Although the test is “completely voluntary”, people that refuse the test will not be admitted inside the pub.
The “Itemizer” has been in limited use in England thus far, and opponents have complained that the device may give false positives if people touch a surface a drug user\dealer has touched previously.
Sadly, few have complained about the attack on civil liberties that such a machine represents.
