‘Kids think strong stuff is the best’

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Title – ‘Kids think strong stuff is the best’Source – The Times
Date – 16th March 2009

‘Skunk’ is a word that is starting to send a shiver through parents across the country; it is starting to be seen as the pariah of all drugs and some perspective should be gained. ‘Skunk’ is something to be concerned about, but maybe because it is a ‘gateway’ drug; meaning that the extra strength of ‘skunk’ makes the jump to class A drugs less of a leap than it’s predecessors.

‘Skunk’ is undoubtedly a stronger version of the ‘resin’ and ‘weed’ that were more common a decade ago and it is undoubtedly becoming the standard ‘marijuana’ strand available in the UK. This article provides an interesting synopsis of why and how that has come about.

It is the acceptance of ‘skunk’ as the ‘standard’ that should be of concern and the competition to produce and consume the strongest variety so young people can boast about it. The glamorisation of stronger drugs and the culture of acceptance of drugs such a cocaine rather than the social exclusion which drug users used to expect, has led in no insignificant part to increased numbers and openness of drug use in the UK.

Drug use and drug dealing can have dramatic effects on business; both in employees productivity and on the reduced number of customers who will be attracted to businesses which suffer the negative effects of drug use and drug dealing.

In any business there can only be one approach to illegal drugs and that is the adoption of a ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ and enforcement of that policy through Drug Awareness training. We can provide you with this training and using training aids such as our

Drugs Box our training provides realistic and client focussed training which your employees can relate to.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Licensed Retail Sector including The National Certificate for Licensees Drug Awareness (NCLDA). For other sectors our bespoke Drug Awareness (DA) courses, which examine illegal drugs, their effects and the drug litter synonymous with their use, are specifically designed to reflect the nature of our clients working environment. Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course complements these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and drug related behaviour.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk or join us on our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Raise price of alcohol to beat binge drinkers / Brown won’t buy 50p-a-unit alcohol plan

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Title – Raise price of alcohol to beat binge drinkers / Brown won’t buy 50p-a-unit alcohol planSource – The Independent / The Times
Date 16th March 2009

Well now even I am confused, this proposal from the chief medical officer seems on the face of it to be sensible when I consider my own habits, it wouldn’t really affect me much at all. I don’t however pretend that I am in anyway an ‘average’ consumer; I tend not to buy value beer or £2.50 bottles of wine (and before you think it, it has nothing to do with snobbery, but rather just that I drink quite infrequently and as such am relatively content to pay a fair price for a quality product).

Having said all this, the occasional G&T I consume would cost me significantly more, maybe as much as 25% more. But let’s look at the real players here;

The government have been preaching for years that alcohol needs to cost more to reduce the harm it causes in society, yet politicians from every party have come out against this proposal… they do love their mixed messages. They claim it has to do with not wanting to hurt the average consumer with additional costs in these harder economic times. If that is the case then why have they continued with their above inflation rises on alcohol tax and seem to not even be willing to discuss this policy? Incidentally the argument they use for this burdensome tax increase is that pricing out excessive consumption is the way to tackle binge and chronic drinking habits…. curioser and curioser… or is this more to do with not wanting to rock the boat when they are already very unpopular? The cynical side of me might go even further and suggest that they know if this is put into statute that they will be limited on how much additional tax they will be able to raise, because the minimum pricing suggestion is not an additional tax but simply a minimum selling price for retailers. Would they have come out so strongly against the minimum price per unit scheme if it had been proposed as a minimum tax per unit?

The drinks manufacturers and their trade bodies have a clear vested interest; there is no additional income for them and this measure would undoubtedly reduce volumes and hence their margins, so for them it is a ‘no brainer’. It will be a bad move and one they will try and resist, so the Portman Group and WSTA comments are hardly surprising.

Supermarkets and off-sales retailers will undoubtedly fight against this move, although the voice of the larger retailers will be the loudest as they can afford to use alcohol as a ‘loss-leader’ or in aggressive promotions to get people into their stores. Some of the smaller retailers may benefit from the levelling of the playing field this move provides. So it is a mixed bag, although I think it is fair to say that the voice of the supermarkets will drown out the smaller retailers.

Pubs, clubs, bars, social clubs, venues, restaurants, hotels, events and the myriad of other on-sales retailers, seem to have been remarkably quiet in all of this. I would have thought they would be shouting from the roof tops, well most of them at least. The vast majority of them and their product lines would not be affected in any way, yet their main competitors in the form of the supermarkets will come slightly closer to their sale price and reduce the imbalance. If a unit of alcohol costs a minimum of 50p your average pint of strong larger will have a minimum price of £1.50 hardly revolutionary for the on-trade… even

Weatherspoons 99p pint would barely be affected; the £1 shot of Vodka promotions that have come under the spotlight of late would not be affected; so why did they not make more of a fuss, is it that they are so closely linked through ownership to large chains and their trade bodies largely funded by breweries, that their voice was somewhat quashed?

What about the consumer? Well the average responsible drinker will lose out if this measure was introduced in this crude fashion (on average to the tune of £11.80 a year) and that is the fundamental problem and why it is unlikely this measure will now be adopted; certainly before any election and before Scotland’s recent proposals have been properly tested. The simple answer which the government and the medical establishment is seeking is just not going to be this simple. It has to address more than just cost across the board it has to be more sophisticated than that and it will only work if it gets everyone on board, which means everyone giving way a little and recognising the good in the Licensed Retail Sector, eliminating the bad; rewarding the good and punishing the bad. Above all it has to get everyone including the public striving for the same goals. Even this simple synopsis of my opinion to the reaction of this latest proposal demonstrates how far apart all the different groups involved in production, sale and consumption of alcohol are; where the only solution is a co-ordinated approach, we seem to be moving further away, rather than nearer to consensus.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the licensed retail sector to help them sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence; Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk or join us on our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Cleared, the householder who killed intruder with shotgun

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Title – Cleared, the householder who killed intruder with shotgun
Source – The Times
Date –12th March 2009

Although not work related this case once again highlights the effectiveness of common law as a defence in a criminal prosecution. Although an extreme and tragic example, which is a little confused with the introduction of the ‘accidental discharge’ element of the case, it still acts as a useful example of the right of self-defence we all have whether at work or not.

It goes without saying that the use of deadly force is not an option that anyone should be taking as a serious consideration in resolving any sort of conflict. However an understanding of the basic principles of criminal and common law will go some way to helping individual who face workplace violence in all its forms, understand the limitations of their actions.

When physical force or the threat of physical force is used against us in any capacity we have the right to defend ourselves under common law. The first and most important act of self-defence is to look at ways of resolving the conflict or at the very least managing it so that it does not turn violent. The simplest and most effective means of achieving this may be to simply walk away and under the law, if this is an option, it should be taken otherwise subsequent actions may be indefensible.

However in the workplace this is not always possible, either because of physical barriers, but more often because the work role means we have to act to defend others or property, which are effectively similar to defending ourselves. In these cases an understanding of the law not only provides boundaries to our actions, but enables us to act in a manner that will be defensible should a prosecution subsequently arise be that criminal or civil.

It is a very fine line sometimes between self-defence and assault, we help candidates stay comfortably on the right side of this line. We help them understand that any physical action must be avoided, unless absolutely and legally necessary. Our

Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course provides candidates with systems and strategies to proactively avoid reaching this stage in the first place. Our Physical Intervention (PI) course teaches candidates how to effectively intervene when required, with techniques which are low-impact and professional and which are defensible in court as appropriate to the circumstances.

At Beyond The Blue we run courses for candidates from many different sectors who face any form of Workplace Violence both from threats, harassment, aggression and physical violence.

We also run a number of courses for those working in the Security Industry. These include; The National Certificate for Door Supervisors (NCDS) designed for those who require an SIA Door Supervisor Licence; In-House Security Induction (IHSI) trains candidates in the specific systems of the premises in which they will be working and meets the SIA recommendation that all security operatives receive bespoke further training above their statutory requirements in relation to the premises and role in which they will operate; Physical Intervention (PI) for those who are required in their role to face and deal with violence in their workplace and may be required to restrain and / or escort aggressive customers; our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk or join us on our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

‘Drink and sex’ ads broke rules

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Title – ‘Drink and sex’ ads broke rules
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date 11th March 2009

The advertising and promotion of alcohol is now closely monitored across England and Wales and soon to be even more strictly so in Scotland with the new regulation being proposed (see

Scotland to end ‘pocket money’ prices for drink).

Everyone who works within the Licensed Retail Sector must be aware of the standards and stay within the guidelines, as failure to do so not only invites potential prosecution, but in individual cases can lead to premises licence reviews. It is these individual cases and other like it where industry codes are ignored, which will eventually be pounced upon by legislators as justification for further punitive legislation on the industry as a whole.

We cover the guidance for alcohol promotion on several of our courses including the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) and the National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS). We explain the need to avoid promotions which encourage excessive drinking or which link alcohol to; physical or sporting achievement, sexual fulfilment or increased sexual performance, driving in any form, employment progression and health benefits.

In this example the adverts were, according to the Advertising Standards Authority, considered to be in breach of the social responsibility rules as they linked the consumption of alcohol directly to sex.

As an industry I think we need to be more creative than we maybe have sometimes been in the past. I worked in the Student environment for many years and they are much more sophisticated than they are sometimes given credit for. Undoubtedly some of the clichés are correct, but anyone who has been through higher education will look back fondly on a time in their life which is unique and smile. This is a time of life where it is possible to be idealistic without a reality check and a time where creativity is encouraged and boundaries are pushed. The greatest success stories in advertising directly to this demographic have not resorted to the use of sex or heavy discounting; value is important, but value and discounting are two very separate marketing strategies.

Innovation is the key, understanding student’s curiosity, their creativity, their sense of humour and their energy will enable your product to stand out; placing yourself and your product into the quagmire of discounting and sexual innuendo that swamps the student market will not get you noticed. Your customers will make use of the discounts if they already frequent your premises, but will the discounts actually increase the customer base to the same degree your margins are cut…? That is another question.

Our many years of experience in the University sector gives us a unique insight into this demographic. Through our Consultancy Service we can help you to make the most of the opportunities available in this substantial market.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the licensed retail sector to help them sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence; Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk or join us on our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Scotland to end ‘pocket money’ prices for drink

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Title – Scotland to end ‘pocket money’ prices for drinkSource – The Independent
Date 3rd March 2009

It has been on the cards and the Scots are now ready to show their hand. A combination of measures has been proposed to handle the ‘binge drinking’ culture and the corner-stone of the proposals are a ‘minimum price per unit of alcohol’.

The arguments for and against have been well made and the majority will claim that they are being punished for the ‘crimes’ of the few. I have 3 or 4 glasses of wine a week which causes minimal harm (some might even say they do me good…) to my health and certainly no harm to my community, why should I pay extra for my wine because an 18 year old consumes alcohol to excess and causes havoc in the local neighbourhood?

This is a simplistic example and doesn’t take all the factors into consideration, but the proposed solution is simply not an adequate one. Does a drug user stop using drugs when the price goes up? No they just find other ways to pay for it. Alcohol is a drug and the worst affected in our communities are effective drug users who ‘need’ to drink to meet their addiction. How many of them will stop as alcohol gets more expensive?

On the other hand the practice of ‘loss-leading’ in supermarkets which provides alcohol for sale at rock-bottom prices to encourage people into their stores, has contributed to uncontrolled drinking in the home and on the street. There will be some relief that this practice will be curtailed through this legislation and a more level playing field established.

It is a complicated problem and everyone must fight their own corner, the difficulty is that they are fighting each other rather than adopting a co-ordinated approach that protects the

Responsible Alcohol Retailers, provides choice and value to responsible customers and actually targets problem drinkers.

I have through this blog long argued that there has to be a more positive and proactive approach than simply more legislation. I’m sorry to say, but if this legislation is a success in any way in Scotland, England and Wales will not be very far behind. This legislation punishes responsible retailers and consumers as much as that minority who are irresponsible. For one of my slightly exaggerated analogies; it is like doubling the price of a bag of crisps, because some people eat too many and suffer obesity and the associated health problems not to mention the litter they generate…

There must be scope in governments to find more proactive and positive solution. I refer them back to my plea to think of ‘carrot and stick’ approaches rather than ‘stick and stick’ approaches. Provide retailers with a challenge, with a reason to want to be better. There are many good and some great alcohol retailers out there, make them part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Reward them for taking the initiative. The Licensed Retail Sector is full of individuals that love what they do and love the recognition when they do it well. If they are incentivised to Retail Alcohol more Responsibly, they will. When you punish them alongside the rogues who exist in every industry you disincentivise them and push them further away from working in partnership to resolve the issues.

There are more ideas out there and we should try harnessing them. If you insist on minimum pricing per unit, why not rate alcohol retailers and scale the unit prices depending on the level of responsibility shown by individual retailers. Ok it is a simple idea and probably contravenes a whole host of laws based on fair competition and would require a small army of assessors (then again there are plenty of people looking for work…), but it is just an ‘off the cuff idea’ and there are bound to be many better ones out there. The government preaches a partnership approach to licensing policy… have they tried asking?

The fact is we should not need government to tell us to retail alcohol responsibly, because it is an approach which should be fundamental to any business intent on success and we should welcome it when rogues are stopped from working in the Licensed Retail Sector. There is however already plenty of legislation with regard to alcohol retailing which is not proactively enforced because either the resources are not available to licensing authorities to do so or because the police and the courts are unwilling or unable to enforce it to its full extent.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the licensed retail sector to help them sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence; Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk or join us on our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Deputy who denies cell assault on girl is captured by surveillance camera

Title – Deputy who denies cell assault on girl is captured by surveillance cameraSource – The Times
Date –2nd March 2009

Now it is always important not to prejudge these kinds of cases before the full story is known or court proceedings have taken place, but anyone viewing this footage can be in no doubt that this is an attack on a 15 year old without justification.

That it takes place in the US is of little consequence for our purposes. I have posted this here as a good example of excessive force (with the assumption that no extraordinary defence comes forward). A ‘prisoner’ kicking a shoe with no real aggression at a ‘deputy’, simply does not merit this reaction. Is the deputy really in any danger?

The ‘use of force’ is always relative and for anyone working in an environment where they have contact with the public or where they may be required to physically intervene as part of their duties, having a sound understanding of what constitutes the legal use of force and what constitutes a criminal assault is absolutely vital.

Both Criminal Law and Common Law are covered in many of our courses in respect of the ‘use of force’. There are situations where the extreme use of force is justified under common law, but any use of force must always be a last resort and only used when all other options have been exhausted, including the ability to leave the area.

It is a very fine line sometimes between self-defence and assault, we help candidates stay well on the right side of this line and we help them understand that any physical action must be avoided, unless absolutely and legally necessary. Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course provides you with systems and strategies to proactively avoid reaching this stage in the first place. Our Physical Intervention (PI) course teaches candidates how to effectively intervene when required, with techniques that are low-impact and professional and which will not result in scenes such as the one which occurred here in Washington State.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Security Industry. These include; The National Certificate for Door Supervisors (NCDS) designed for those who require an SIA Door Supervisor Licence; In-House Security Induction (IHSI) which helps our clients train candidates in the specific systems of the premises in which they will be working and meet the SIA recommendation that all security operatives receive bespoke further training above their statutory requirements in the specifics of the premises in which they will operate; Physical Intervention (PI) for those who are required in their role to face and deal with violence in their workplace and may be required to restrain and / or escort aggressive customers; our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk or join us on our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.