Fabric and the future of clubbing
Fabric and the future of clubbing: Police prepared to
'enter dialogue' on drug tests
From: BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat
Campaigners say so-called front-of-house testing will help users know what they are taking.
The Metropolitan Police has said it's willing to "enter a dialogue" with club owners and the government about drug testing in venues.
"If a club would like to introduce it, we would enter into a dialogue about it," the Met Police tell Radio 1 Newsbeat. It follows the closure of Fabric nightclub in London.
The club had its licence revoked after Islington Council described a "culture of drugs" at the venue. Many suggested a different approach to drug policy could help protect clubbers and nightlife.
Some argue a practice known as "front of house" testing, which sees drugs being tested on site, could help keep clubbers safer and help them know what they're taking. During the programme Radio 1's B Traits said: "Right now, they're [police and councils] not taking them [different approaches to drug policy] seriously enough.
"The idea that clubs help 'manufacture' drugs is misguided," says Alan Miller from the Night Time Industry Association. The technique was used at this year's Secret Garden Party and Newsbeat understands that there are plans to introduce testing at more events in the next year.
There were six deaths in four years at Fabric before the license was revoked. A Met Police spokesman told us that there is "no official statement or force-wide policy" on "front of house" testing.
However, he said if individual clubs or the Home Office wanted to introduce this kind of testing, "we would enter into a dialogue" about it. The Met's policy on testing currently varies from other police forces around the UK.
George Hull, who owns a venue called Bloc in east London, added: "Everyone wants them [clubs and clubbers] to be safe. Everyone works hard to run well-run venues. "It's more a question of approach. It seems to me there's an inconsistency. The key thing is that key operators and the police form relationships to reduce harm. The industry needs, more than anything else, needs to work with the authorities."
Commander Simon Bray, the national police chiefs' council lead for drugs, said that club owners have "a duty of care to the people who visit their clubs" and to "ensure the supply and consumption of controlled drugs doesn't happen". He added: "The police service is committed to protecting our communities. If local authorities and individual licensees request help in tackling the use of illegal drugs in clubs, forces will endeavour to support."
Fabric is one of more than 1,000 UK clubs to close in the past 10 years. In other parts of Europe club life is being protected. Amsterdam is home to a night mayor, a role was which was launched in 2014 with the aim of giving nightlife culture a single voice to discuss issues with the local authorities.
Earlier this year Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told Newsbeat that building the city's nightlife culture is a "core priority" and that the introduction of a similar figure to the night mayor in the capital.
George Hull is keen to learn from cities like Amsterdam, which has several clubs on the outskirts of the city with 24-hour licences. "Everyone who lives there knows the developers work with venue operators and the police and the council. It's an effective partnership and it's working in Amsterdam and we [the UK] need more of that."
"The future of our nightlife is uncertain & that's scary... where do artists go?" asks Hannah Shogbola from agency Echo Location.
Alice Woods, a club promoter, said: "The night mayor is a really positive step forward because it's one of the first recognitions that night time culture is its own entity and it really needs attention paid to it. The decision to close this club [Fabric] wasn't about going to the root, understanding the problems and how we can solve them. The emotion around the closure's been felt across the UK," she adds. "It's about 'saving a culture' not just Fabric."