Arches in glasgow forced to move to over 21's policy due to police

T

TM78

Member
for those outwith scotland, the biggest club space in glasgow has had to introduce an over 21s policy due to police threatening their license after the recent sad death of a 17 yr old which has been linked to a bad pill she reportedly took whilst in the club (several others at the same club night, also took ill and were admitted/treated in hospital).

the arches has been closed for 'club' nights since the girl died.

this also follows on from edinburgh council / police pulling the event license for a huge Hardwell show at Ingilston, due to concerns about the death of the 17yr old (& the supposed bad batch of pills called mortal combats that are in circulation) and also due to the bad press the Hardwell gig in belfast attracted due to the high level of drunk teenagers at the over 14s event in belfast..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-26243564

it goes without saying that it a terrible tragedy that a 17yr old has died, but the police & lciensing reaction does nothing to solve the problem of people taking recreational drugs , and merely penalises all 18-20 year olds from now going to one of the biggest / best club spaces in the uk...it is a very sad state of affairs for glasgow / scotland as a whole for dance music and the effect will be long running on the arches, and its club nights and also no doubt on other dance clubs in the city, with police scrutiny of their licenses, searches , id checks, etc. (it has already seen the license for the biggest techno night in scotland (pressure @ the arches which is run by slam / soma) being reduced to 3am from the scheduled 5am (along with the new requirement for those attending to be over 21)

i would also argue this age discrimination / blanket ban actually endangers more young people as the arches is a well run venue & has all the onsite services that those in the club may require.
 
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If there's deaths, they're lucky to still be open at all, but i think it's fair to assume that without the student market, they're commercially screwed anyway.
 
The 18 - 21 year olds could always stay at home and play neknomination instead...

It's a crap policy, an infringement of young people's rights (and age isn't the real issue here anyway). If you want to stop customers dying from dodgy chemicals, then allow pill testing in clubs. Simples! They allow this in the Netherlands and I believe these sorts of deaths are very rare. But taking a moral stance on drug use (even when those drugs are less dangerous than alcohol) is more important to some than people's lives. What's needed is an attitude of 'live and let live' + education + harm reduction.

I'd be interested to know from anyone setting foot in the club soon whether the 'vibe' has changed at all, as I'm hoping to go before the summer (not been in yonks!) when my mate visits. If the atmosphere has changed, we'll just go somewhere else!
 
I guess the reasoning is that older clubbers are more wised up about their limits - not that toxins discriminate on age. Admittedly I only went the once but I disliked the arches - the atmosphere felt sterile, the music was the soulless end of techno (adam beyer or hawtin i think? yawn) and the sound was pretty distorted. Not a venue for audiophiles.
 
Pablo Montez Junior said:
I guess the reasoning is that older clubbers are more wised up about their limits - not that toxins discriminate on age. Admittedly I only went the once but I disliked the arches - the atmosphere felt sterile, the music was the soulless end of techno (adam beyer or hawtin i think? yawn) and the sound was pretty distorted. Not a venue for audiophiles.
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The Arches is probably my favourite club! Perfect size (big but not too big), right sorta person (clued up but not stuck up), nice bit out the back for a smoke when you're mashed and an all round good vibe IME.

I don't know if there's been a report on what killed the girl as yet, but I guess it's more likely to be PMA or PMMA rather than too much MDMA. In which case knowing your limits doesn't come into it.
 
They bore me senseless and hawtin hasn't mattered to me since the plastikman era. It's not that controversial an opinion. Go on any techno forum and you'll see similar
 
Johnny Vodka said:
The Arches is probably my favourite club! Perfect size (big but not too big), right sorta person (clued up but not stuck up), nice bit out the back for a smoke when you're mashed and an all round good vibe IME.

I don't know if there's been a report on what killed the girl as yet, but I guess it's more likely to be PMA or PMMA rather than too much MDMA. In which case knowing your limits doesn't come into it.
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You're speculating though. And it's reckless to casually assert that ecstasy is safer than booze. Worried kids coming on here and reading this need facts not received wisdom
 
Pablo Montez Junior said:
They bore me senseless and hawtin hasn't mattered to me since the plastikman era. It's not that controversial an opinion. Go on any techno forum and you'll see similar
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Oh, well, if the forums say so... haha

All joking aside though, I agree, each to their own. If it ain't your bag, that's cool. But "soulless"? Hmmm.
 
people are gonna get 'on it' no matter what tho, I think at least the UK should get some sort of testing stations to make it as safe a possible.
 
Pablo Montez Junior said:
You're speculating though. And it's reckless to casually assert that ecstasy is safer than booze. Worried kids coming on here and reading this need facts not received wisdom
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Ecstasy and alcohol have their own specific risks, but I'd say alcohol has far more problems associated with it - addiction, various health risks (obesity, cancer, etc), anti-social behaviour. Even the biggest risk people seem to associate with MDMA - sudden death by overdose - happens with booze too.

Have a look for David Nutt's drug harm index chart.
 
There are no meaningful comparisons between e and booze.
1. They're totally different intoxicants. What exactly are you comparing? What about people who take both? ie nearly everyone
2. E is still young - only 25 years of mass consumption. That gives researchers sweet fa to go on. We're all still guinea pigs in some unprecedented chemical experiment. Original ravers have to reach old age before the science can make sense
 
Pablo Montez Junior said:
There are no meaningful comparisons between e and booze.
1. They're totally different intoxicants. What exactly are you comparing? What about people who take both? ie nearly everyone
2. E is still young - only 25 years of mass consumption. That gives researchers sweet fa to go on. We're all still guinea pigs in some unprecedented chemical experiment. Original ravers have to reach old age before the science can make sense
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We're comparing drugs, not the people who take them.

I'm a fan of David Nutt and his drug harm index, which should use the best available information we have about any drug. http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/drugs_cause_most_harm This can change. I think he admitted for example that mephedrone started low on the index but would have risen as more and more users described how addictive it is.

Certainly in drug policy, particularly deciding on whether to ban a substance and what class it should fall into, something like this should be used. And I think you can eventually say drug A is a bigger menace than drug B.

Also, they've tried and tried for decades to find conclusive scientific evidence to damn MDMA and AFAIK it simply hasn't appeared. If anything, it speaks volumes that there's now a push to use MDMA in medicine.
 
wednesday23 said:
Would you rather they had restricted ages and opening times or be forced to shut all together?
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What i would have is the police & council not discriminating against thousands of people over one tragic incident given the record of the arches/its safety record. just banning something shows a total failure to understand & deal with the actual issues (and gives in to the hysteria, and lets get it right, hatrd for clubbign culture that still exists in the tabloids (the daily record, the scottish sun...very repressive, and authoritarian in tone up here

if it had been a 21 year old that died, would the club have to go to over 25s??

glasgow has ridiculous licensing / curfew policy for the city its size, and the percentage of young people.
we have a policy in the city, where clubbers aren't trusted past 3am..but you can happily wander into the casinos until 6!
 
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