An ABC journalist detained by police and accused of being "off his chops" on drugs says his run-in with officers was all a "strange misunderstanding".

Brisbane police reporter Josh Bavas, who claimed he simply had a cold, recorded mobile phone footage of the incident at a Bunnings store in Oxley, in Brisbane's southwest, on Saturday.

"For the record, it's all water under the bridge. Police have a job to do. Won't be following this any further. A strange misunderstanding," he later tweeted, after the video attracted media attention.

It also caught the eye of Ipswich Deputy Mayor Paul Tully, who tweeted on Sunday: "What the betting (sic) nothing happens over (the) incident and that it's quietly swept under the carpet?"