Amsterdam night mayor slams UK club drugs policy

With news coming out recently that the UK government failed to issue a warning about the PMMA Superman pills, Amsterdam's Night Mayor Mirik Milan has some stern words regarding the drugs policies of UK clubs.

Mirik, who has been the Night Mayor of Amsterdam since 2012, represents the nightlife industry of the Dutch capital in disputes with City Hall and pointed out flaws with the UK's approach to tackling drugs in clubs, including the mooted changes at Fabric. "If you look at drugs as being a problem just for dance music or for nightclub owners then you're looking at it wrong. Drug use is something which sits in society and which you will not take out by having sniffer dogs at the door," he said.

Instead, Milan encouraged the UK to focus on damage limitation, and ensuring that punters had the correct information when it came to drug use. "One death is too many, so you have to make sure people know what to do if they do have any trouble with drugs. In Holland when one of these pills was brought to the testing station, big warning signs went out to all the clubs and the media and, as of yet, nobody has died because of these pills in Holland," he also said.

Milan cites Switzerland as an example of a country whose drug policy is right, adding: "In Switzerland, you can test on location at festivals, and the last person to die in Switzerland due to taking drugs at an event was 7 years ago. It's not like they're just drinking schnapps in the woods in the hills in Switzerland, so if you look at it from a damage limitation perspective, it works".