Don’t ban ‘meow meow’

The relative harm of drugs is an argument which got Professor Nutt into trouble and I am not about to wage a scientific argument with him on this particular subject; however I will argue the point on the principle of government scientists dictating policy and on the proposal that some drugs should effectively sold under licence.


It is the constant comparisons with controlled drugs and alcohol which I find difficult to stomach. We know alcohol is a drug and a dangerous one at that, but you don’t solve a problem by undermining one danger because a greater one exists.


To use his famous equestrian reference it would be like saying we should ban horse riding but allow pony trekking…


The classification system is there to deal with controlled drugs at this time alcohol and tobacco fall outside of this classification. If there is an argument to include these then make that argument, do not confuse it with an argument surrounding the harm from Methedrone.


The solution to the drug problem (if there could ever be one) lies in more than scientific data and opinion and it is here where I take issue with Professor Nutt. I would never question his integrity, his qualification or experience, however the issue with drugs is a political one. I should clarify that when I say it is a political problem it is not a problem to play politics with…


If the argument goes that the harm from alcohol is so great that it should be controlled, how could decriminalising other harmful drugs (even if they are less harmful than alcohol) help the situation in the UK, surely it can only make things worse?


One thing I wholeheartedly agree with is the formation of a new category of drugs; the Class X drugs if you like. It is a classification into which new drugs which appear on the market can quickly and easily be put, in order to avoid the uncontrolled legal ‘dealing’ of drugs.


What always surprises me is the difference between the vigorous, lengthy and expensive development and testing which pharmaceutical drugs undergo before they are allowed to be sold, which is in complete contrast to the back-street labs producing chemical compounds which are ‘developed’ by amateur chemists to fulfil this grey market for ‘legal’ drugs. It strikes me these go through less testing then even our foodstuffs which are subject to tough hygiene regulation.


The law in this grey area is very haphazard and a Class X would place some controls on the ‘legal’ drug trade and allow government scientists to test them properly; avoiding the current backward methodology of ‘see the harm they cause’ and then test and classify. This antiquated methodology provides no protection to young people attracted to these cheap and readily available drugs.


Professor Nutt’s drug chart is a reflection of his expert opinion in this area and with his experience he cannot be ignored. But the consequences of drug use are more than medical and scientific; the social, criminal and psychological consequences of drug use and drug dealing will always be a choice for politicians. Scientific grading alone is never going to be the only concern, the harm from drugs comes in too many forms.


At Beyond The Blue we deliver a number of different courses, which include;


• Drug Awareness – designed specifically for each individual client to help them address the problems of controlled drug use and drug dealing in their workplace.
• The National Certificate for Licensees (Drug Awareness) – designed specifically for the licensed retail sector
• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments personal development and helps employees deal proactively with Workplace Violence.
• Our Personal Safety for Lone Workers course teaches the core skills to help employees deal effectively with alcohol and drug related personal safety issues.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/ .


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


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Evening Standard
Date – 23rd March 2010

Minor Variations – Licensing Act 2003

In July 2009 a change was introduced to the Licensing Act 2003 which affected the process of ‘variation of a premises licence’.


Previously any variation attracted the same formal application and notification processes no matter how insignificant they were.


The introduction of Minor Variations is a ‘common sense’ approach to dealing with those less significant alterations to a premises licence which have little or no effect on the terms of use or the impact of the premises.


In its simplest form this change means that if the proposed variation does not have any material impact on the licensing objectives it may be deemed to be a ‘minor variation’. In these cases you submit an application to the licensing authority who consult the relevant ‘responsible authorities’ as they feel is appropriate and consider any representations received within 15 working days.


You must still post a notice outside the premises for 10 days after the application is made for any ‘interested party’ to make a representation to the licensing authority. There can however be no hearing into the representation, but rather it will be considered by the authority who will determine the merits and either insist on an application for a full variation being submitted or grant the minor variation.


An example


If you wanted to knock through an interior wall in your premises in order to ease the flow of customers or for aesthetical reasons, this would require a variation as the plans submitted for your premises would no longer reflect the structure.


On the assumption that this did not increase your capacity (and thus affect conditions attached to your licence) or significantly alter the Fire Evacuation routes (and thus undermining the licensing objective of Public Safety), then it really has no impact on any of the licensing objectives.


Common sense says; why complete a full variation for something which has no impact on the licensing objectives and it is exactly this approach which has been taken with the introduction of ‘minor variations’.


This example should qualify for a minor variation, but it may be useful to seek the informal agreement of the licensing officer prior to submitting your application.


All our relevant training courses reflect these changes and for candidates who have already taken our National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) course, an update for their NCPLH handbook is available; please contact us for a copy.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for people 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 course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


Source – Beyond The Blue
Date – 15th January 2010

Electronic Applications

On the 28th December 2009 while most people were recovering from Christmas and preparing for New Year a change occurred in the way applications can be made for Premises Licence Applications, Minor Variations, Variations, Designated Premises Supervisor Applications, Temporary Event Notices and for the Review of a Premises Licence.


These applications and notices can now be made in writing as they were previously or electronically.


There are significant advantages in many cases to making these applications electronically;


• For Premises Licence Applications the licensing authority will assume the responsibility for forwarding on a copy of your application to the seven ‘Responsible Authorities’ if you send the application electronically. If you make this application as a written (hard copy) application then you are still responsible for sending each authority a copy of your application and ensuring they are all sent on the same day.

• Temporary Event Notices (TENs) may also be given electronically; in which case only the licensing authority needs to be notified and they have the responsibility of forwarding the notice on to the police.


These changes are courtesy of an European Union Directive and make these application processes less daunting for applicants in most cases, but for technophobes all applications can still be made in writing in the ‘traditional’ way.


All our relevant training courses reflect these changes and for candidates who have already taken our National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) course an update for their NCPLH handbook is available; please contact us.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for people 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 course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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

Source – Beyond The Blue
Date – 15th January 2010

Ban on new pubs opening to curb alcohol-fuelled violence

We always tell our clients of the importance of a partnership approach to their business, an approach which makes them ‘part of the solution rather than part of the problem’.


Licensing is not an ‘us against them’ situation it is all about compromise and being part of the community you serve. This is especially difficult in urban areas where much of the trade is ‘passing trade’ or the ‘after work crowd’. These customers do not have a vested interest in the problems faced by residents and as such licence holders have to make an extra effort to keep local residents on-side.


Setting up a local pubwatch or townwatch is a great way to achieve this and to include the local residents, police and licensing authorities in this process can be very effective.


The consequence of failure is for all to suffer the same fate. In this case a ‘saturations zone’ being declared on The Cut right next to London Waterloo station looks likely.


As always it is the responsible retailers who suffer most for the sins of irresponsible retailers. Most responsible alcohol retailers welcome strong enforcement of the current legislation which should be adequate to deal with those premises causing many of the problems. When you run a professional business these regulations don’t worry you and licensing inspectors will not trouble you.


It is important to know what your local authority’s licensing policy is and how it will affect your business; The Cut is important to us as it lies within a few hundred feet of one of our London training bases located on the other side of London Waterloo mainline train station.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of different courses, which include;


1. 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;
• The National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.
• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Evening Standard
Date – 16th March 2010

Booze Britain? No, we’re drinking less

Give a journalist a set of statistics and they will choose those which best suit the slant of their story, this is particularly true when it comes to ‘24 hours drinking’ and drinking trends in England and Wales.

I’m not underestimating the effect of alcohol on certain parts of society or the harm it can cause when misused and I am not trying to ignore the impact of alcohol related crime and disorder. As an operator of late night venues in the past, a trainer / consultant for the sector and a Purple Flag Assessor, I see all these problems first hand.

But statistics don’t lie and the actual consumption of alcohol has not dramatically increased overall, even if there have been some changes in drinking habits.

In my opinion there is a more destructive element in what and how people drink on a ‘big night out’; certainly ‘Binge Drinking’ has had a negative impact on town centres. But the concept of ‘Binge Drinking’ is still more of a tabloid headline, than a concept recognised in law; however it can’t be denied.

So if it is the case that it is the nature of drinking and the associated behaviour which has changed rather than the overall quantity consumed, why are we so focussed on putting measures into place to reduce consumption?

It is an argument I seem to be making over and over and the more information we get the more my point of view seems to be confirmed. The strategy to reduce the problems related to alcohol must be more considered than simple prohibition.

I am actually in favour of the Licensing Act; has it been perfect? Certainly not; but I feel that has more to do with enforcement than the Act itself. We must realise that the problems associated with alcohol which concern so many have been developing over a generation. This makes them a cultural problem and anything which has become engrained in our ‘culture’, takes a generation to change.

If any government thinks they can make a fundamental change with a few tweaks of the Licensing Act, minimum pricing etc, then they are going to be disappointed. The problem with politicians is they have to make an impact within 5 years, even just the most recent problems with alcohol have been developing for a 100 years…

The solution is education, responsible alcohol retailing being enforced and allowing people to make sensible choices based on sensible regulation.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of different courses, which 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;

• The National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.

• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.

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

To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Independent
Date – 27th February 2010

Dear Heroin

This article does not fit our usual approach to the topic of controlled drugs. However sometimes it is worth sharing articles if only to re-emphasise the terrible effect of these drugs. They go some way to highlighting how out of control true addicts really are and explains (it does not excuse) their behaviour and why they take some of the drastic actions they do.


This is a terribly sad and very powerful story and one I feel is worth sharing.


Hannah Meredith wrote this note just three weeks before she died from a heroin overdose. It is her parents who released the letter in the hope that it may deter other potential users.


The Drug Awareness training we run is not drug counselling or targeted at drug users. We aim to help businesses and organisations deal with problems related to controlled drugs and help young people become more aware of the effects of these illegal drugs.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of different courses, which include;


• Drug Awareness – designed specifically for each individual client to help them address the problems of controlled drug use and drug dealing in their workplace.
• The National Certificate for Licenses (Drug Awareness) – designed specifically for the licensed retail sector
• 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;
• The National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.
• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Metro
Date – 25th February 2010

999! I’ve fallen off a car park

With people like this guy around, those people working in the licensed retail sector who face ever increasing regulation and pressure from local authorities to restrict their business activities because of the effects of binge drinking, are fighting a losing battle.


If ever there was an argument for releasing some of the shackles of licensing legislation on retailers and developing a licence for consumers this is it. Is the problem really the alcohol retailer or the guy whose excessive consumption leads him to waste so much of the emergency services time through sheer stupidity.


Wouldn’t it be great if the vast majority of alcohol consumers who do so responsibly, were not subject to the restrictions of the irresponsible minority. You need a licence to drive a car, imagine if you had to have a licence to drink alcohol, one which could be suspended if you behaved in this way?


I’m not seriously advocating the issuing of alcohol licences which allow individuals to consume alcohol, but sometimes the balanced needs to be redressed. The problems associated with alcohol related crime and disorder should not all be laid at the feet of the alcohol retailer, the solutions need to be more wide ranging.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for people 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 course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Metro
Date – 23rd February 2010