COMMENT: We Can’t Afford to be Complacent

If you ask a number of licensees about the drugs issue you invariably will get a whole range of responses.  Some in the licensed trade say that drugs are not an issue for them at all as no one takes drugs in their pub.  If you ask others, dealing with the drugs issue is part of their daily job description. 

From experience we believe, it is crucial for everyone in the trade to be vigilant about tackling illegal drug use, since those who don’t, run the risk that their premise will be targeted by those selling them.  It is also true that the police don’t like to hear that the licensee has not even thought about tackling the issue of drugs as this is often widely interpreted as complacency.

One thing that remains true – regardless of whether the problem is increasing or decreasing, drug-taking in and around licensed premises will remain an extremely high-profile enforcement and media issue for the licensed trade.  For my organisation, several years ago there was a firm belief amongst some people in elevated positions, that clubs were all colluding in the sale of illegal drugs.  Obviously this was an extremely damaging notion for the vast majority of those good late night operators to have to deal with, yet this proves that right across the trade we have to continue to take this issue extremely seriously.  At a time when the trade is fighting a whole range of other negative issues in terms of perception, we cannot afford to have any further bad PR.

Over the last few years, a number of organisations including my own have been very proactive in trying to find some useful and positive initiatives to deal with the issues of drugs.  One of the key recent projects we have been involved in, largely through the work of long-time Noctis committee member, Liam O’Hare (formerly the Operations Director of The End) is the revising of the Safer Nightlife guide.  This guide offers very practical advice on how to deal with the issue of drugs in licensed premises – not least in the chapter which relates to developing a drugs policy for your premise.

Although Safer Nightlife (as the name suggests) is aimed primarily at late night premises, it contains lots of useful information for all sections of the trade. Crucially this guide doesn’t preach - or point the finger.  Instead it starts from the practical standpoint that drugs are a social issue which run right through our society.  It also argues that tackling these issues is one which needs to be done in real partnership.  When the first version of this guide was published in 2002 (entitled Safer Clubbing) this way of working was a pretty radical, though welcome departure from the norm.

This more helpful way of working was earned by working constructively with the police and local authorities and for those agencies to see that the licensee is very keen to tackle the problem and will do all they can to help. This is not to say that all authorities – even now - will be completely understanding on drugs issues. 

Incidentally when we launched Safer Nightlife at The End last year, Liam O’Hare didn’t have a moment’s hesitation about allowing sniffer dogs into the premise as part of a demonstration - yet this illustrates quite how far the licensed trade needs to go in order to have an honest and open relationship with the authorities on this issue.  The authorities for their part also need to acknowledge the trade as a crucial part of the solution – not part of the problem.