"dangerous in unqualified hands". He said that if the E-meter "was suggested to possess mysterious powers" to someone who did not understand that it had "been thoroughly discredited as a lie detector" then "that person would be suggestible to ideas foisted on him by the operator". The final report of the inquiry stated that the E-meter enabled Scientology In 1965, Victoria banned the use of the E-meter without a license, with Western Australia and South Australia following suit. In 1969, the High Court of Western Australia ruled the ban illegal. South Australia repealed its law in 1973, and Victoria repealed it in 1982. In 1983, the High Court of Australia ruled that Scientology was a religion, and as such had the same rights and protections. Scientology beliefs and theories Within the Church of Scientology, the early psychoanalysts are credited with first use of the E-meter. Hubbard credited Mathison with recreating the E-meter and bringing him the first model for use in Dianetics. Hubbard set out his theory of how the E-meter works in his book Understanding the E-Meter: Hubbard claimed that this "mental mass" has the same physical characteristics, including weight, as mass as commonly understood by lay persons: This text in Understanding the E-Meter is accompanied by three drawings. The first shows a man standing on a weighing scale, which reflects a weight of "150" (the units are not given). The next shows the man on the same scale, weighed down under a burden of "Mental Image Pictures", and the scale indicates a weight of "180". The last picture shows the man standing upright on the scale, now unburdened by "Mental Image Pictures" and with a smile on his face, while the scale again indicates a weight of "148". Bob Thomas, senior executive of the church in the early 1970s, gave a prosaic description. See also Auditing (Scientology) Biofeedback Thought identification References External links Scientology Today: What is the E-Meter and how does it work?, official Church of Scientology description Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter, by David S. Touretzky , filed by the Church of Spiritual Technology on May 9, 1996, and published January 4, 2000 "New Religious Movements, Technology, and Science: The Conceptualization of the E-Meter in Scientology Teachings" Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 51 (3):661-683 (2016), a thorough historical and critical study by scholar Stefano Bigliardi. 1951 introductions Measuring instruments Pseudoscience Religious objects Scientology beliefs and