Night Clubbers Alcohol Risk

Alcohol, rather than illegal drugs, has emerged as the greatest threat to night-clubbers, a conference has been told. Delegates from the police, local authorities, drug agencies, sex advisory charities, door supervisors, and club owners met at Cream Nightclub in Liverpool to discuss the dangers faced by clubbers.

The conference, sponsored by Liverpool University and the regional office of the NHS executive, was organised after hospital staff became alarmed at the number of injured revellers appearing in accident and emergency departments. Among the problems were 'PVC bottom' (the chafing which results from knickerless friction) and 'clubber's nipple' (a painful condition arising from jumping up and down for long periods clad in a string vest). More serious are the results of poor water supplies, indiscriminate sex, and over-enthusiastic bouncers. Chris Lucas, an accident and emergency consultant at Liverpool University Hospital, carried out research in a variety of nightclubs which showed alcohol to be the main danger: "Over the last year up to 1,500 of our patients have come from clubs. Very few incidents are drug-related. Most are indirectly or directly caused by alcohol - the largest group being victims of assault.

"There has been too much hype about the dangers of illegal drugs. The real dangers are still the traditional ones of bouncers and booze." 

Dr Lucas points to a range of heat illnesses, fungal and viral infections, painful joints, and stiff muscles which resulted from thousands of people in a sweaty room dancing the equivalent of a marathon.

Chris Lucas questions government policy. "There is no point in closing clubs down, which will just alienate a million people. Drug abuse is not as big a problem for the NHS as clubbers who are victims of binge drinking and violence.

"Club culture has created a challenge to medicine, presenting a new scale of intensity in exertion, crowd and noise, alcohol and drugs. The financial cost is considerable. Soon we will be unable to cope."

The figure of 1,500 clubbers who required hospital treatment in Liverpool represented almost 1.5 per cent of all casualty cases. If a cautious 1 per cent were applied nationally, then between 16,000 and 18,000 clubbers a year would require emergency treatment.

The restriction of alcohol sales and the elimination of glass bottles would solve many of the problems, Dr Lucas believes, "The number being treated for cuts is far greater than the number of drug cases. About 80 per cent of the cases we treat are due to drinking and violence, and 10 per cent due to panic attacks or other symptoms caused by drugs." The remaining 10 per cent are made up of injuries inflicted by the flailing arms of fellow dancers, falling off platform shoes, cigarette burns, and the uncomfortable 'PVC bottom' and 'clubber's nipple'.

Andrew Bennett of HIT, a drug information centre in Liverpool, argued that liberalising the licensing laws would ameliorate the problem. "It seems ridiculous that we have pubs closing at 11pm and clubs at 2am...It causes thousands of people to cram onto the streets all at once and transport and police are put under enormous pressure."

Mr Bennett's comments are at variance with findings in other places where a relaxation of licensing hours has occurred. In Perth, Australia, a study has shown a 125 per cent increase in violent and sexual assaults in and immediately around premises which had been allowed to sell alcohol beyond the usual hours. Experience in Edinburgh showed that the expected benefits from changes such as Mr Bennett suggests did not materialise.