Party Vibe

TBH given that Fabric’s been mentioned at least thrice here and I’m sure their PR folk as well as metpol read here (which tends to make them all angry and suspicious) I personally wouldn’t be so blatant – also clubs are often where the wannabe gangsters would try to offload any crap stuff… I wouldn’t go to Fabric anyway TBH…

you are better off trying to find a real life friend or friends who still do it and have good contacts. Even if you are 30 in London and most capital cities (or anywhere where there is a University) you can get away with hanging around with slightly younger folk without being judged too much (at least not enough to actually get you nicked, provided you all act sensible). People don’t reply to overt requests for drugs from single posts on forums because its illegal and they don’t know if you are a cop or journalist.

@DOTM 499437 wrote:

People who ask for drugs over a public forum are imbeciles and should probably not be trying to buy drugs

the worst thing is its not themselves they cause problems for (as its a lot of effort for little return for cops to bust individual posters, especially in Europe with free speech laws).

but when venues are mentioned in this manner, do folk not realise that is also intelligence info to the authorities?

I have to admit that if I was in my mid 20s, had just landed a “dream job” as a venue promoter or a resident DJ and saw a post like that linking my work with illegal activity, I’d print it out and hand it straight to my employers and it would be up to them what further action they took (which may of course involve working with the Police and putting on extra security so as to distance themselves from such blatant drug use). I wouldn’t be prepared to let some muppet risk my “career” (especially given how insecure these jobs are) by incriminating my employers.

@Navarone 499521 wrote:

lol really? U think these djs dont know half the people in the crowd there playing to are pilled up? Not sure what planet your on mate. I agree people shouldnt be branding around venue names like they are but come on good luck finding a mid 20s DJ whos going to make a complaint about drug use at the venues hes playing at.

Its not drug use itself in the venue which is usually the real issue (unless there are overdoses) but drug dealing in the venue which brings a lot of trouble (turf wars, corruption of security staff and other frontline staff). In London and big cities more corruption is tolerated as the cops are overwhelmed with other crime to clean them up totally – but night time venues do exist outside London where the cops are better resourced and they are monitored more closely. One big club in South Essex was turned over with 100 cops in riot gear what discovered merely a bag of probably RC based pills and a couple wraps of drone. All the half-dressed TOWIE girls were made to stand out in the freezing cold for hours and not even allowed their coats and bags until the next day as CSI went through all their personal stuff as part of the investigation.

What was even worse was the comments in the papers (where everyone was openly naming and shaming other clubs in that region where more drugs were taken and dealt and openly saying “why don’t the Police raid these ones too?” So even if the cops didn’t get much from that bust they’ve got loads of useful intelligence. This is the climate dance events operate in today, its not 1991 where the authorities and venue managers were either naïve or 100% corrupt.

Full time venue managers and owners (some of whom might also DJ!) are at much more risk. By that I mean the people whose names are on the Licensing paperwork. in a city a DJ can always find another residency and unless they are the dwindling roster of super DJs its rarely a full time occupation but it is for a venue manager and a lot harder to get work in the licensed trade if you have a tradition of ignoring the rules. So many venues here (and even in London) have been locked off due to being “disorderly houses” and dance events discouraged because of the drugs angle. My own friends are routinely refused venue hire the moment those what own it realise its a dance music event.

Even metpol (who now feel they are in the shadows of the “bumpkinshire” constabularies) are stepping up enforcement against party drugs use and dealing, there have been a lot of prominent venues raided/closed down over the years and others only tolerated because they grass up a few folk now and then (which can lead to other security issues!)

for instance there was a time not too long ago when they wouldn’t have even bothered with these small timers.

Cocaine, ketamine, crystal meth, ecstasy and mephedrone found during drugs crackdown (From Your Local Guardian)

2 years jug for a dealer at Fabric..grassed up by other revellers the worst part of this is this lad is not unintelligent or a hardened criminal, just a young’un rebelling a bit.

Vinod, who had no previous convictions, was detained in the club’s VIP toilets after revellers pointed him out to bouncers and said he had been offering to sell drugs on February 24 this year.

Judge issues warning as drug-dealer is jailed (From Watford Observer)

@Navarone 499529 wrote:

Ok I would agree with all that, to be fair most of the venues in London I have been to are quite responsible in terms of searching for weapons and keeping people safe in my opinion. Theres not much any one can do if a dealer has a bag of pills down his pants and wants to make some money for the evening. I think its a very different scene than some dodgey essex night clubs.

the clubs in Essex are no worse safety wise than those in London, its just that these days music and the atmosphere is shit. Fucking TOWIE and all that other crap. They used to have good nights in EA but folk took the piss with their behaviour and that is why they got locked off. But I moved here for work and career prospects, not for nightlife, a man has to grow up sometime (I did hold it off as long as possible :laugh_at:)

I’m British Asian like the lad what got nicked (he perhaps even shares the same ancestry from other info about him I found out, but I won’t post it here as he’s in enough shit as it is) and because of this both the bouncers and punters think you are a dealer even though I have never been one, I only ever took drugs for personal enjoyment and I don’t do them now.

But people still cling onto stereotypes. Last outdoor rave I went to, I was sat in my friends van. He is a big dude about 45 and bald, my other friend who was there is a white guy with dreadlocks. So us three were sat there, taking the last of what we had (not a great deal). yes it probably did look “promising” to the onlookers, there was constantly this stream of youths turning up at to this van, and asking us if we had anything to sell. And instead we were hoping the younger folk might have some! All 3 of us thought this was hilarious as it was a free outdoor event but it would have been much less so if feds or other security were about..

@Navarone 499575 wrote:

haha, you clearly have a lot more experience than me at this. But my point is I would think a club in essex would probably have a lot more organised rug dealing and dodgy stuff taking place. i.e. owners and bouncers involved or purposely turning a blind eye to keep the punters coming where as a large club in London who has a reputation for good music and would be under a lot more scrutiny would not particuarly want to get involved in that sort of thing but I’m just speculating here.

Popular culture and half-remembered incidents from the 1990s create a lot of misconceptions but todays reality is its even more locked down in Essex and Suffolk than London, as otherwise the London dealers would either work with the locals or battle with them for turf. it was like that for a bit in the 90s epecially at the start of the scene but the cops soon got wise.

A club is in fact a really bait place for a drug dealer anywhere in the East as they are always under scrutiny and so are all the workers round here in maritime occupations for obvious reasons, given our trade routes to Holland. Also many young people here are frightened of pills and powders because they saw their slightly older siblings or even their parents have health problems with them so they don’t like drug use. Plus also there are forensic accounts and SOCA who look out for the money laundering. Nowadays Metpol, Essex and Suffolk work together to share intelligence – as well as the Border Force, Nederlandse Politie, Koninklijke Marechaussee, Belastingdienst en Douane (the equivalents across the water). they have linked computer systems, their radios can make calls into other constabulary areas and even to other countries, and whole units to monitor drug culture. The Councils and Health Authorities do this too and share info with the Police, and thats in both UK and NL.

For instance the harsh clampdowns on Ipswich nightlife were lifted from plans the Dutch authorities used to clean up Amsterdam!

remember also that senior detectives are all my age and grew up with the rave scene so they know all the tricks. There’s a few what had bad experiences during the rave days and crossed the blue line because of it (we met one whom we nicknamed “PC Hardcore” :laugh_at:) also shows like TOWIE in fact create a big backlash. I’ve got family in Essex and we do business with a lot of firms there and the folk are in reality hard working and socially conservative.

Of course it is not impossible to get MDMA or pills and good ones too, but it isn’t as much a part of the culture as it once was, especially outside the main cities.