Queensland Premier David Crisafulli is set to de-fund two pill-testing stations which were designed by the previous Labor government to be permanent.
This comes after the tests have turned up cases of the deadly drug Nitazene in substances sold as less harmful drugs.
"There is no safe way to take drugs," he recited, echoing Nancy Reagan's failed 'Just say no' campaign. His apparent concern about the safety of illicit drugs is a strange contrast to his actions making them less safe, with Nitazene being 500 times stronger than heroin. The two testing stations are costing about $1 million per year.
The Premier is reportedly also considering de-funding all road improvement projects as there is no safe way to drive. Similarly he is set to lift all fire safety regulations as there is no guarantee a building will not catch fire.
Asked whether he had ever taken any drugs, he said: "There is no safe way to take drugs".
When it was suggested the only reason Nitazene was found in illicit drugs was because they were illicit and therefore unregulated, he again recited: "There is no safe way to take drugs".
• Update on 28 February
Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls this morning doubled down on the decision to close the testing program in a Radio National interview, saying it "sends the wrong message". That startlingly original line is standard from all prohibitionist politicians even though they can in fact send whatever message they like via multiple channels.
But with overdose deaths on the rise, he reassured us that the University of Queensland was conducting an assessment of the program due later this year. It seems closing something down before its results have been assessed, putting lives at risk, must be "the right message" – that ideology trumps evidence.
He reiterated that people should not use illegal drugs, rather they should go to the doctor and get a prescription.
