Brabant catering entrepreneurs are increasingly experiencing nuisance from drug users in their establishments. Young people get drugs more easily and no longer adhere to the rules after use. It even leads to destruction of toilets, sinks and doors. “They don’t understand that you’re putting them outside.”
Party café Mambo’s in Handel stops going out because of the nuisance and drug use by 16-year-olds. A survey in Brabant shows that owners Nick and Laura are not alone in their fight against drug use in bars.
“There is no shame anymore among the youth. They think drug use is very normal,” says Arnold van Strien of De Kapitein in Breda. “Sometimes they just use it publicly on the dance floor. We put them outside because I am strongly against drug use. I definitely don’t want that in my pub.”
“They don’t see that they are wrong, that’s bizarre.”
The pub owner does not have to count on understanding from the youth. “They then don’t understand why they are being kicked out of the pub. You will then have a big mouth. They don’t see that they are wrong, that’s bizarre.”
It comes as no surprise to his colleague Alex Boonman from Café Brandpunt in Tilburg, among others. “I predicted a few years ago that drug use would increase if you banned alcohol. There are now eight dealers on each schoolyard. For a few euros you can be entertained all evening.”
“The perpetrators of vandalism are almost always under the influence of drugs.”
And according to the café owners, that is the cause. Drugs are too easy to get and they are also much cheaper than alcohol. But drugs cause more nuisance in bars than alcohol. “We are seeing an increase in vandalism. Toilets, sinks and doors are increasingly being demolished in our pubs,” says Boonman. “The perpetrators are almost always under the influence of drugs.”
Kees Bijl of the bars Cue and Coyote in Breda sees the increase in the minimum age for alcohol consumption as the cause. “We started treating children aged 16 and 17 as if they were toddlers. They were suddenly no longer allowed to drink alcohol. Then they start looking for alternatives. These have become drugs.”
“Selling drugs to 16-year-olds is apparently allowed.”
After the minimum drinking age was raised, Bijl no longer allowed 16 and 17-year-olds in. “That still hurts me, but if I sell a beer to a 16-year-old I will be punished harshly. In the meantime, it is apparently allowed to sell drugs to a 16-year-old on the street. We destroy the youth more this way than with a few beers on the weekend.”
A solution is not easy to find. Boonman from Café Brandpunt in Tilburg is in discussions with the municipality and the police, among others. But for the time being, his security guards have to recognize at the door if someone has used drugs. “Then they won’t get in, because the nuisance causes a lot of frustration for me too.”
FOR YOU TOO:
A party café in Handel stopped having evenings out due to excessive drug use, here you can read the story of the owners