The associate health minister acted swiftly to remove wine from the shelves today after it was found to contain two class-B drugs.

Medical research undertaken in the UK published in 2005 has come to light showing that alcoholic drinks made through the fermentation of white and red grapes contain small amounts of a drug known as Fantasy.

The associate minister used his temporary powers to ban wine immediately and put the onus of proof on the alcohol industry to prove their products were safe. “It is important to be consistent when it comes to drug policy,” the minister said.

Author of the study Dr Geoff Robinson said “little is known about the specific synergistic effect of ethanol mixed with Fantasy”.

A similar ban was placed on synthetic cannabis earlier in the year after it was found to contain phenazepam .

However, a retest of the same batch of Kronic found it to be phenazepam free, leading to speculation the Government had deliberately contaminated the product in order to ban it.

ENDS

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