The Australian state of Queensland has banned the testing of drugs for recreational use, sparking warnings from health providers on Friday that the move could put lives at risk.

Queensland ranks third-highest in Australia for drug use, the latest government data show, with around one in five people in the state reporting they had used in the past twelve months.

Late on Thursday, the government of the northeastern state said it would ban funding for testing which checks the chemical purity of drugs for users to see if they have been laced with other harmful substances.

The state's health minister Tim Nicholls said the government had a "zero-tolerance approach to illicit drugs".

"There is no safe way to take drugs," he said. "Drug checking services send the wrong message to Queenslanders

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