PRYZM Cardiff issues an apology for charging people for drink covers in the club

Pryzm, one of the most popular student nightclubs in Cardiff, was recently put under scrutiny for charging 20p for anti-spiking drink covers. 

Cardiff University student, Peter Thomas, used social media to “voice [his] anger”, alerting people to the problem. The post has since gained more than 500 likes and been flooded with comments that agreed and deemed the charge unacceptable and “disgusting”. 

A PRYZM spokesperson said: “PRYZM Cardiff stopped charging a nominal 20p for anti-spiking cups several weeks ago.  They admit this was a mistake and had only done it in a bid to try and encourage people to keep and reuse them as there is a serious supply shortage across the UK due to high demand. Keeping our guests safe is our number one priority.  We’ve listened to our guests and accept we made a mistake and are not charging for drink spiking devices.”

Spiking drinks and needle spiking reports have recently seen a gradual increase in the United Kingdom. 

A petition titled “Make it a legal requirement for nightclubs to thoroughly search guests on entry”, has collected over 162,000 signatures on the Parliament Petition website and makes it necessary for it to be considered for debate in the Parliament. 

A Senedd meeting on 10th November discussed the issue and agreed to strengthen the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) Strategy “to include a focus on violence and harassment against women in the street and workplace as well as the home”. Free drug test strips at Welsh venues, better training for staff on issues such as spiking and robust action for those found guilty were few of the measures that were discussed at the Senedd.

The Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt said: “that it is not for women to modify their behaviour, it is for abusers to change theirs.”

Cardiff Women’s Aid CEO, Debbie Beadle, also said that the charge was “not acceptable”.

“It’s nightclubs’ responsibility to make sure they are doing everything in their power to make an environment where it’s unacceptable to have this behaviour. Women are scared to go out. We are now seeing women staying at home. Is that the society we want?”

PRYZM has since apologised, and decided against charging customers for the covers henceforth. Other clubs in Cardiff including Popworld, Walkabout, Be At One, Story, Metros, Mary’s and Revolution have been offering them for free and continue to do so.

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