Drug screening for 'suspicious' concertgoers only, S'gor exco clarifies

Summary

• Selangor exco Ng Suee Lim clarifies that drug screening at concerts would only target “suspicious” individuals, not all attendees, as part of efforts to enhance safety.

• The measure in response to drug-related deaths will involve tighter monitoring and cooperation with law enforcement, but SOPs for holding concerts will remain unchanged.

Selangor Local Government and Tourism exco Ng Suee Lim has clarified that the state government is not proposing to conduct drug screening tests on all attendees for concerts held in the state.

Instead, he said this will only be imposed on “suspicious” individuals.

“The proposal is part of preliminary measures to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone attending entertainment events in the state.

“The administration is proposing that the urine test is only conducted on individuals who have aroused suspicion.

“For example, if an individual is carrying contraband such as banned substances or drugs, authorities working in collaboration with the police have the right to take appropriate action,” he said in a statement today.

He assured that live events industry players have nothing to worry about as the standard operating procedures will remain unchanged.

However, increased monitoring and cooperation from law enforcement agencies are needed to prevent a recurrence of untoward incidents.

Ng added that the government is open to receiving constructive feedback from stakeholders on ensuring a healthy concert environment and developing the state’s tourism industry.

‘Costly and impractical’

Previously, Ng was quoted saying that the state was reviewing SOPs for holding concerts in the state following the death of four attendees linked to drug abuse at the Pinkfish Countdown.

Bernama quoted him saying on Monday that the government will recommend including urine tests as part of the SOPs.

“We want to tighten the SOP and look at what cooperation can be conducted with the police and local authorities because when licences or permits are granted, we want to ensure that the organisers thoroughly check (especially regarding drugs).

“So, from now on, we might need to conduct urine tests as part of the SOP for visitors, and this recommendation will be brought up at the exco meeting so that people who abuse drugs or are drug addicts are not allowed to enter any concerts (venues),” he reportedly said.

The proposal was criticised by the industry group Karyawan and MCA’s women’s wing as impractical due to the vast time and resources needed to test every attendee at a concert.

Wanita MCA slams 'absurd' drug test proposal for concertgoers

Selangor mulls urine screening for concerts following NYE deaths

Pinkfish concert: Cops believe victims bought ecstasy pills at venue

Selangor cops suspend concert permit approvals