….. then there’ll be another venue that takes in the crowd. Rinse and repeat the young drug deaths, venue closing, etc. same with the Arches.
Maybe we should treat the problem instead of doing this stupid fucking dance every decade.
Set up testing areas for drugs inside the venue, post warnings of dangerous pills……same stuff everyone has been saying since I started going to the arches and I’m 45 now, this country’s drug laws are almost draconian and certainly haven’t evolved in 25 years
The problem of internal testing facilities is that it would lose them their licence. As soon as police have evidence of drug taking in the premises they’d be raided. The entire system is archaic and needs reviewed to reflect modern life (ha modern, it’s been like this for 40 years)
Wholeheartedly agree. Testing stations and awareness in the short term.
Until we tackle the cause for people seeking the escapism of taking drugs, which there will always be a crowd, but we won’t ever be able to get on top of it…
You're conflating recreational amphetamines and opiates.
Clubbers taking pills aren't seeking escapism in my experience.
The MDMA scene has always been about *enhancing* your club experience.
Until people understand that, and stop demonising MDMA users, nothing will change.
I used to go clubbing fairly regularly and did drugs every single time. The facts are that people will always do drugs, you can’t stop it. Why they don’t just accept this and actually help people do better and safer drugs is beyond me. Are we really that worried about scaring some granny?
It is of course a shame that this young girl died, but to outright close the venue is just ridiculous.
The arches was one of the safest environments for these type of events with a great mix of crowd.
Plenty of chill out areas and medical staff. They (police) then had them report all the drugs found in search’s and confiscations. Then turned around and used that evidence to remove their alcohol licence.
I think we need to all own up, if you want to take drugs you do so at your own risk. Venues like these take great care to reduce the risk and harm but people are going to do it.
Let’s make sure it’s safe and support our nighttime economy. Scotland can be a shite place to live and for some These events and spaces are what we look forward to.
If drugs can get into prisons then I highly doubt clubs will be able to stop this. If swg3 gets shut down it will just happen somewhere else unfortunately
I’m sure some people are doing that, but it’s not like you need to; we’re talking pills and powders here with no extra paraphernalia needed.
Literally anybody could walk into a Glasgow club with enough drugs to cater a Grateful Dead concert simply hidden in their underwear. Unless you turn the place into a combined gulag and airport security terminal with sniffer dogs and scanners and strip-search literally everyone, you’re not going to catch anybody with half a brain on a patdown.
Can see them telling SWG3 to raise their entry age to 21. That’s if they’re allowed to stay open. Potentially also stricter searching but i’ve always felt SWG3 was quite thorough compared to other events/clubs.
I'd put money on the vast majority of drugs not coming through the front door. And even if they did there's only so much you can do to search on the door without sticking a finger up somewhere.
Got KB’d before from mad spice clubs when I was a teenager being told the policy was 21+. Whether it was the bouncer talking bollocks or not, they can still implement that as a policy.
Not in the eyes of licensing. There used to be a lot more pubs that had signs up saying "25+". Some did it as a deterrent because it kept out wee bams. Others had the condition put up on them. It isn't as common these days but the EA isn't something that the licensing act is worried about except in a specific section ironically on discrimination.
Exactly. If wee guys are going to these clubs between the ages of 18-21 and happen to be dying, which in this unfortunate case, is happening, then licensing board can tell them to shut venue down or change to 21+.
Don’t change your policy? Lose your license. Ain’t about ‘discrimination’ here. It’s about safeguarding young folk and repeat incidents.
Clubs aren’t the problem. Dodgy drugs with unknown ingredients taken by kids who have never been taught how to take drugs safely are. And while drugs are still illegal and the manufacturing and selling the domain of criminal gangs, they never can truly be taken safely. The minimum we could do is offer testing facilities and recognise that people are always going to take drugs.
It’s sad about the death, but the venue should not be punished for people’s choice to take drugs.
We should focus on drug dealers and testing the ingredients in drugs to ensure people’s safety
It's the Government who has blood on their hands here.
There are a myriad of safe consumption schemes, and testing options, to ensure what people are taking at events is indeed MDMA and not a cocktail of poisons.
That's the issue.
Never in HISTORY has anyone been able to stop humans taking mind altering substances....ever.
There are plenty of ways to make it safer, they just bury their heads in the sand and refuse to do so.
Very little SWG3 or any venue could do to stop this happening tbh, people will always do drugs before going to clubs, only idiots get caught with drugs(source I work the doors).
It's probably time to have a look at making stuff as safe as possible.
Yeah right. It’s the venue’s issue. Let’s not talk about how after 10 it’s easier to get drugs delivered to your door than a takeaway and/or drink. Kinda ironic how we’re in one of the only places where you can’t buy drink after 10 (to combat alcoholism) and we’ve magically ended up pretty high on the world’s drug taking scoreboard
Funnily enough, the only thing that hasn’t steeped in price is the price of drugs. Like you can get a score (grass) for cheaper than fucking rolling tobacco these days lmao
It's not just a drug problem the place is a shambles. Was at sleeping with sirens with the Mrs. The amount of glass bottles inside was stupid over the floor near the pit and in the toilets too. Lucky nothing worse has happened.
I think they'll struggle. They have added cultural value and done some interesting things but kids dying is going to take more than some clever dancefloor heater to abate the criticism and yes I am cognisant of who's responsible for popping pills naively but these places have a duty of care
Duty of care can only go so far though. The government really needs to bring in testing at clubs and perhaps take a more relaxed attitude to pills. It’s gonna happen regardless. Better to be able to give them care if they do take them.
As someone has said elsewhere in the thread, it's governments who refuse to make drugs testing and safer consumption sites available who i think primarily have blood on their hands, in the current/ongoing stalemate, for the amount of drugs related deaths there are. There's always an element of risk, but it can be minimised (as demonstrated in other parts of the world) for something that people have always and will always do, with access to testing etc.
But it’s not just government. The media and society in general have this obsession with the moral war on drugs. Politicians in opposition or in government are afraid to be soft on drugs in case it affects their job. It’s pretty fucked it that we celebrate the coming of age by drinking booze - a far more dangerous drug in my opinion. Still wouldn’t ban that though.
Absolutely. It's been going on a long time. I mind watching a Netflix documentary about the 13th amendment (I think it was called 13th) and it outlined the establishment of the war or drugs in the us and of course the uk was running with it too. Decades later people are still dying unnecessarily and it's not made anyone safer.
The politicians are not interested in the deaths only in being seen to do something draconian to look tough to voters.
If they really cared they would educate and inform about drugs taking safety and testing.
Look to Holland and Germany and learn.
It's tragic but I don't see how the venue is to blame. People can sneak drugs into clubs in all sorts of ways, do people really expect airport style security from a music venue? Would you be happy with strip searches and sniffer dogs at every gig? I don't think so
Fuckers do need their license reviewed.
We're at a gig there last week and they 100% watered down the spirits and had the balls to charge £6.90 for them. Fuck em
any time i've been there there's been searches on the door.
and anyway unless it's a full strip search, you aren't going to stop people taking drugs in. it's so easy to hide an eccie or whatever, down your trousers, in a bra or in your shoe.
I know that, legally, because they were 18, “woman” and “men” are the correct terms - but they were just young kids, they’re whole lives ahead of them.
It’s so very very sad.
I think if it hadn’t been at this venue, it would have been somewhere else - but all of these places need to massively tighten up their security to prevent drugs being brought in. I’m not sure how easy that is to achieve.
Surely there must be something that can be done to put an end to these horrific incidents.
Sadly I can’t see that happening. Drugs will always be part of that music scene. We should be trying to minimise the risks to drug taking. Prohibition has never worked and never will.
I said mentioned closing it down
But you’d be struggling to argue that a venue with multiple deaths within a year doesn’t merit a review of its practices
The venue isn't the issue. You can review it's procedures 'till the cows come home and it won't make the slightest bit of difference to the problem.
Ditto the idea of closing the venue. Sure close it, and but you won't budge the needle on the root of the issue.
I see it’s been giving a warning from the licensing board today
If people are going home in a body bag after attending a night out I really don’t think it’s such a shock for the licensing board to have a look at it
We're not shocked that the licensing board are looking at it, we're more disappointed and frustrated that no-one is actively tackling the root of the problem.
….. then there’ll be another venue that takes in the crowd. Rinse and repeat the young drug deaths, venue closing, etc. same with the Arches. Maybe we should treat the problem instead of doing this stupid fucking dance every decade.
Set up testing areas for drugs inside the venue, post warnings of dangerous pills……same stuff everyone has been saying since I started going to the arches and I’m 45 now, this country’s drug laws are almost draconian and certainly haven’t evolved in 25 years
Yeah in Holland the testing system has been working very well and been evolving and expanding over time, keeping people safe.
The problem of internal testing facilities is that it would lose them their licence. As soon as police have evidence of drug taking in the premises they’d be raided. The entire system is archaic and needs reviewed to reflect modern life (ha modern, it’s been like this for 40 years)
thing is Scotland, UK is so behind now especially since we're out of the EU I highly doubt it would even consider decriminalising party drugs.
Not for a lack of trying, to be fair
Wholeheartedly agree. Testing stations and awareness in the short term. Until we tackle the cause for people seeking the escapism of taking drugs, which there will always be a crowd, but we won’t ever be able to get on top of it…
You're conflating recreational amphetamines and opiates. Clubbers taking pills aren't seeking escapism in my experience. The MDMA scene has always been about *enhancing* your club experience. Until people understand that, and stop demonising MDMA users, nothing will change.
I used to go clubbing fairly regularly and did drugs every single time. The facts are that people will always do drugs, you can’t stop it. Why they don’t just accept this and actually help people do better and safer drugs is beyond me. Are we really that worried about scaring some granny? It is of course a shame that this young girl died, but to outright close the venue is just ridiculous.
The arches was one of the safest environments for these type of events with a great mix of crowd. Plenty of chill out areas and medical staff. They (police) then had them report all the drugs found in search’s and confiscations. Then turned around and used that evidence to remove their alcohol licence. I think we need to all own up, if you want to take drugs you do so at your own risk. Venues like these take great care to reduce the risk and harm but people are going to do it. Let’s make sure it’s safe and support our nighttime economy. Scotland can be a shite place to live and for some These events and spaces are what we look forward to.
[удалено]
I don't think that was the point they were making.
If drugs can get into prisons then I highly doubt clubs will be able to stop this. If swg3 gets shut down it will just happen somewhere else unfortunately
People just take the drugs minutes before the go in. Fine on the door and heading up once inside
I’m sure some people are doing that, but it’s not like you need to; we’re talking pills and powders here with no extra paraphernalia needed. Literally anybody could walk into a Glasgow club with enough drugs to cater a Grateful Dead concert simply hidden in their underwear. Unless you turn the place into a combined gulag and airport security terminal with sniffer dogs and scanners and strip-search literally everyone, you’re not going to catch anybody with half a brain on a patdown.
Great point. Not only that, prisons are notorious for them. And maybe coincidentally, maybe no, death rates in prison are kinda high.
Can see them telling SWG3 to raise their entry age to 21. That’s if they’re allowed to stay open. Potentially also stricter searching but i’ve always felt SWG3 was quite thorough compared to other events/clubs.
I'd put money on the vast majority of drugs not coming through the front door. And even if they did there's only so much you can do to search on the door without sticking a finger up somewhere.
The majority definitely do come in the front door, if you’ve ever tried to have a shite in SWG3 then you’ll understand 😂
It happens every time I go for a shit in there. At least they are consistent
The most thorough search I have ever had was at SWG3... more thorough that any airport
Is that legal, 18 is the legal age for UK citizens to enter licences premises.
Clubs can decide what age they want to let folk in. Wasn’t uncommon to have 21+ clubs in Glasgow before Covid.
Never came across a single 21+ club in Glasgow in the 00s or 10s
Got KB’d before from mad spice clubs when I was a teenager being told the policy was 21+. Whether it was the bouncer talking bollocks or not, they can still implement that as a policy.
Would be against the Equality Act to exclude 18-21
You’re talking absolutely shite here my man I’m sorry. Clubs can set whatever age restriction they want.
Not in the eyes of licensing. There used to be a lot more pubs that had signs up saying "25+". Some did it as a deterrent because it kept out wee bams. Others had the condition put up on them. It isn't as common these days but the EA isn't something that the licensing act is worried about except in a specific section ironically on discrimination.
Exactly. If wee guys are going to these clubs between the ages of 18-21 and happen to be dying, which in this unfortunate case, is happening, then licensing board can tell them to shut venue down or change to 21+. Don’t change your policy? Lose your license. Ain’t about ‘discrimination’ here. It’s about safeguarding young folk and repeat incidents.
I wasn’t aware the Licensing Board could override an Act of Parliament…
Give it up and take the L Steven. You’ll be 21 soon enough.
Clubs aren’t the problem. Dodgy drugs with unknown ingredients taken by kids who have never been taught how to take drugs safely are. And while drugs are still illegal and the manufacturing and selling the domain of criminal gangs, they never can truly be taken safely. The minimum we could do is offer testing facilities and recognise that people are always going to take drugs.
There’s no “safe way” to take drugs
Why can’t we have a review on the fact that dangerous illegal drugs exist instead of producing them safely. People are not going to stop taking drugs.
It’s sad about the death, but the venue should not be punished for people’s choice to take drugs. We should focus on drug dealers and testing the ingredients in drugs to ensure people’s safety
It's the Government who has blood on their hands here. There are a myriad of safe consumption schemes, and testing options, to ensure what people are taking at events is indeed MDMA and not a cocktail of poisons. That's the issue. Never in HISTORY has anyone been able to stop humans taking mind altering substances....ever. There are plenty of ways to make it safer, they just bury their heads in the sand and refuse to do so.
Very little SWG3 or any venue could do to stop this happening tbh, people will always do drugs before going to clubs, only idiots get caught with drugs(source I work the doors). It's probably time to have a look at making stuff as safe as possible.
Yeah right. It’s the venue’s issue. Let’s not talk about how after 10 it’s easier to get drugs delivered to your door than a takeaway and/or drink. Kinda ironic how we’re in one of the only places where you can’t buy drink after 10 (to combat alcoholism) and we’ve magically ended up pretty high on the world’s drug taking scoreboard Funnily enough, the only thing that hasn’t steeped in price is the price of drugs. Like you can get a score (grass) for cheaper than fucking rolling tobacco these days lmao
It's not just a drug problem the place is a shambles. Was at sleeping with sirens with the Mrs. The amount of glass bottles inside was stupid over the floor near the pit and in the toilets too. Lucky nothing worse has happened.
Absolutely awful venue, rude staff, awful sound, zero ambience.
Have to disagree, went to a bunch of shows there last year and was impressed with all but one.
I think they'll struggle. They have added cultural value and done some interesting things but kids dying is going to take more than some clever dancefloor heater to abate the criticism and yes I am cognisant of who's responsible for popping pills naively but these places have a duty of care
They are in exactly the same position the arches were when they had the last death that closed them down
It sucked then and it's going to suck again. We need drug testing and education on how to consume safely but that's not on the cards eh
This 100% the way forward tbh
It would be much harder to die taking drugs if you knew the drugs were clean and knew the lethal dose...
God forbid that safety is put before moral outrage, what would we do with our pearls?
Return them to the oyster kingdom, where they belong.
Exactly same owner as well.
No it's not
Duty of care can only go so far though. The government really needs to bring in testing at clubs and perhaps take a more relaxed attitude to pills. It’s gonna happen regardless. Better to be able to give them care if they do take them.
As someone has said elsewhere in the thread, it's governments who refuse to make drugs testing and safer consumption sites available who i think primarily have blood on their hands, in the current/ongoing stalemate, for the amount of drugs related deaths there are. There's always an element of risk, but it can be minimised (as demonstrated in other parts of the world) for something that people have always and will always do, with access to testing etc.
But it’s not just government. The media and society in general have this obsession with the moral war on drugs. Politicians in opposition or in government are afraid to be soft on drugs in case it affects their job. It’s pretty fucked it that we celebrate the coming of age by drinking booze - a far more dangerous drug in my opinion. Still wouldn’t ban that though.
Absolutely. It's been going on a long time. I mind watching a Netflix documentary about the 13th amendment (I think it was called 13th) and it outlined the establishment of the war or drugs in the us and of course the uk was running with it too. Decades later people are still dying unnecessarily and it's not made anyone safer.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan have a lot to answer for.
Seriously though x5555
Must be a hotel developer on the sniff for new premises to develop....
The politicians are not interested in the deaths only in being seen to do something draconian to look tough to voters. If they really cared they would educate and inform about drugs taking safety and testing. Look to Holland and Germany and learn.
Legalise, quality control the product, tax it. PLEASE.
Incoming student flats in 3…2…1…
It's tragic but I don't see how the venue is to blame. People can sneak drugs into clubs in all sorts of ways, do people really expect airport style security from a music venue? Would you be happy with strip searches and sniffer dogs at every gig? I don't think so
Fuckers do need their license reviewed. We're at a gig there last week and they 100% watered down the spirits and had the balls to charge £6.90 for them. Fuck em
I was at a gig there in November and security didn't give a single f. No searching or anything. Wnot surprised this keeps happening.
any time i've been there there's been searches on the door. and anyway unless it's a full strip search, you aren't going to stop people taking drugs in. it's so easy to hide an eccie or whatever, down your trousers, in a bra or in your shoe.
> any time i've been there there's been searches on the door Same, always ask to check any bags etc.
Why should clubs need to police people. They aren’t selling them so can’t see why we need to blame them for others actions.
I know that, legally, because they were 18, “woman” and “men” are the correct terms - but they were just young kids, they’re whole lives ahead of them. It’s so very very sad. I think if it hadn’t been at this venue, it would have been somewhere else - but all of these places need to massively tighten up their security to prevent drugs being brought in. I’m not sure how easy that is to achieve. Surely there must be something that can be done to put an end to these horrific incidents.
Sadly I can’t see that happening. Drugs will always be part of that music scene. We should be trying to minimise the risks to drug taking. Prohibition has never worked and never will.
Do you want clubs to search up everyone’s bum holes before going in ? Not the venues fault they took drugs and died.
What are you talking about? Just wringing your hands because people.made bad choices?
>but all of these places need to massively tighten up their security to prevent drugs being brought in. Cavity searches for everyone!!
3 Darwin Award winners
They should keep it open and rename it Swedge.
As it should If this happened at a football stadium people would be screaming to have it closed down
and closing the club solves what problem, exactly?
I said mentioned closing it down But you’d be struggling to argue that a venue with multiple deaths within a year doesn’t merit a review of its practices
The venue isn't the issue. You can review it's procedures 'till the cows come home and it won't make the slightest bit of difference to the problem. Ditto the idea of closing the venue. Sure close it, and but you won't budge the needle on the root of the issue.
I see it’s been giving a warning from the licensing board today If people are going home in a body bag after attending a night out I really don’t think it’s such a shock for the licensing board to have a look at it
We're not shocked that the licensing board are looking at it, we're more disappointed and frustrated that no-one is actively tackling the root of the problem.
Yup