GOVERNMENT DENIES GOING SOFT ON DRUGS

The government has denied it is retreating from its policy on drug abuse by
regarding it as inevitable in nightclubs.

The charge was made by shadow drugs minister Nick Hawkins after the Home
Office published a Safer Clubbing guide, which he said was a "softening up
of drugs policy".

The guide urges club owners to clamp down on dealing - but also encourages
them to provide water, adequate ventilation and rest rooms in case
youngsters have taken drugs.

Parents of young people who lost their lives taking illegal substances
backed the initiative.

Lorna Spinks, 19, died after taking two ecstasy pills before visiting a
nightclub in May last year.

Her father Alan said: "[The guidelines] will help to reduce the likelihood
of a crisis occurring, help with its early detection and improve reaction
in the critical period immediately afterwards."

Janet Betts, the mother of Leah, who died on her 18th birthday after taking
ecstasy in 1995, gave the guidelines a cautious welcome.

She said some of the facilities suggested in the Home Office leaflet, like
free cold water, a rest room and a first aider, "should be there anyway".

But she added: "The minute you put a fancy label on it, like 'chill-out
room', or 'we have a paramedic', that club is using that to advertise the
fact that they tolerate drug use, and that's what I object to."

Metal Detectors

The leaflet gives clubs advice on how to prevent dealing and make the venue
safer for clubbers on drugs.

It also says they should employ police-approved door staff and use metal
detectors to search clubbers for weapons.

It is being interpreted as the government recognising the extent of
drug-taking in clubs, and a move away from a hardline approach.

About four million people use illicit drugs in the UK each year, according
to government estimates. Ecstasy-related deaths increased from eight in
1993 to 36 in 2000.

Drugs minister Bob Ainsworth said: "If we cannot stop them from taking
drugs then we must be prepared to take steps to reduce the harm that they
may cause themselves."

He added: "Club owners and dance promoters have a duty to make sure that
they have done everything possible to reduce the risks faced by the young
people who are their paying customers."

Nick Hawkins, the Conservative spokesman, said the guide was "not welcome
news to the public or to parents" while former shadow home secretary Ann
Widdecombe said "instead of throwing our hands up, we should be getting a
lot tougher".

Chief executive of UK drugs charity DrugScope, Roger Howard said the move
was "encouraging".

'Legal Risk'

But while ministers were offering guidance on reducing harm, they were also
introducing legislation threatening club owners with jail if they
"knowingly permit" drug use on their premises, he added.

"With the threat of jail hanging over them, club owners may be dissuaded
from introducing effective harm reduction measures and deaths may result,"
he said.

But a Home Office spokesman said the guide was written in close
co-operation with the club trade - as well as local authorities and the
police - and "the very fact of their involvement is evidence that it would
not put club owners in breach of the law".

The guide follows comments by the Metropolitan Police's controversial
Commander Brian Paddick earlier this month that targeting ecstasy users in
nightclubs was a "waste of resources".