DANCE CLUBS GIVEN A LICENCE TO GO SOFT ON DRUGS

THE Government acknowledged a softening in its drug policy yesterday by
admitting that it would ignore the personal use of Ecstasy and other
so-called dance drugs in nightclubs.

In a new set of Home Office guidelines the Government accepts that
drug-taking is a part of youth culture that cannot be eradicated. It wants
the public to recognise that drug misuse has to be fought on many fronts.

The guide underpins the Government's strategy of focusing on dealers and
the impact of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine while developing ways
of minimising the harm caused by dance club drugs. It gives clubs advice on
how to prevent dealing and how to make the venues safer for clubbers using
drugs, including the provision of "chill-out" rooms, water and better
ventilation.

It also called for "amnesty boxes" where young people can deposit
drugs they are carrying before they are searched. The guide also urges
clubs to instal metal detectors to curb gun crime in big cities.

The guide, Safer Clubbing, says: "Controlled drug use has become a large
part of youth culture and is, for many young people, an integral part of a
night out."

It received a mixed response. Liam O'Hare, a club owner, said that if
the Government could not stop drugs getting into prisons it was impossible
to keep them out of clubs. Alan Spinks, whose daughter, Lorna, 18, died
after taking two Ecstasy pills before visiting a nightclub in May last
year, said that the guide would help to stop crises developing.

But Janet Betts, whose daughter Leah was killed by Ecstasy, said that she
was alarmed at the new approach. The authorities should instead take firm
action against club owners allowing dealing on their premises.

"Things like free running cold water, and a rest room and a first aider
should be there anyway. The minute you put a fancy label on it, like
chill-out room, that club is using that to advertise the fact that they
tolerate drug use, and that's what I object to."

The guide says that free ice and frozen ice-pops should be provided by
clubs to help clubbers to keep as cool as possible. Clubs are also urged to
make more use of air conditioning after complaints by that some owners fail
to switch it off to save money.

The provision of free water should be a condition of a licence being
granted to clubs, the guide says. It was unacceptable that some clubs tried
to maximise profits by turning off water supplies or supply only warm water
to ensure that clubbers paid high prices for bottled water.

Releasing the guide, Bob Ainsworth, a junior Home Office Minister, admitted
the reality of the scale of drug-taking. He said there was no point
ignoring the drug culture surrounding the club scene.

"We have to recognise that some clubbers will continue to ignore the
risks and carry on taking dangerous drugs," Mr 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. We are not asking club
owners to condone the use of drugs on their premises. What we're asking
them to do is accept that we're not going to be successful in the
entirety in keeping drugs out of the club scene."

The minister ruled out, however, allowing clubs to provide drug-testing
facilities such as those that operate in Amsterdam, so that customers could
check the purity of drugs. He insisted that Ecstasy was dangerous in itself
and encouraging testing kits would be sending out the wrong message.

The urgent need to tackle the growth in gun crime linked to the club scene
was highlighted by the Home Office and police at the launch of the guide in
Central London. A Home Office source said that gun crime in or around clubs
was now a a very serious issue.

The Home Office wants more clubs to install airport-style metal detectors,
which cost UKP12,000 each, or to use hand-held scanners in an attempt to
discover guns, knives, knuckle-dusters and other metal implements being
smuggled into their premises. The source said that problem of guns in clubs
was not confined to London, but also affected Bristol, Nottingham and
Manchester.

Mike Fuller, Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police,
said: "It is our responsibility to reduce the risk of violence and drug
taking. There is a culture of violence and intimidation that follows the
supply of illegal devices.

"It is important that clubgoers are made aware of those risks. With
proper security devices a lot of the violence that has been associated with
some nightclubs can be reduced if not stopped altogether."

Drug experts, however, highlighted a contradiction in the Government's
approach. While ministers were offering guidance on reducing the harm
caused by drugs, they were also about to implement a new law that
threatened club owners with jail if they permitted drug use on their
premises. Roger Howard, chief executive of the charity Drugscope, said: "While we welcome the new harm reduction guidance there does seem to be a
real contradiction in government policy. While offering guidance on
reducing harm on one hand, on the other they are introducing legislation
that threatens club owners with jail if they knowingly permit the use of
drugs on their premises.

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

Professor John Ramsey, head of the toxicology unit at St George's
Hospital, Tooting, southwest London, welcomed the idea of amnesty boxes,
which he said would allow an examination of the substances used in dance
drugs, providing vital medical data.

Last year a pill containing the compound 4MTA, synthesised in the US as an
antidepressant and only ever tested on five monkeys, had been found at one
night spot. At least four people died.

Another compound, 2CT7, known as Blue Mystic, had been found in an amnesty
drug. Both compounds have now been banned under the Misuse of Drugs Act.