At Azarius we love dance music. It basically is the soundtrack at our office. That is why were saddened to hear of the permanent closure of London club Fabric. Fabric opened on 29 October 1999 and quickly gained a reputation as a superclub which cared for music by having an excellent sound system and inviting adventurous dj’s. Fabric also released a long line of highly regarded mix-cd’s by dj’s like Ricardo Villalobos, Robert Hood and Joris Voorn. As a sobering thought one should perhaps realize that no legendary club (Studio 54, The Music Institute, The Paradise Garage) has known eternal life. What does sting is the suggestion that Fabric has been closed to make way for new building projects. So creativity gets the short end, again!
This brings us to the wider issue of the War on Drugs and its many failings. The War on Drugs has seldom been a health issue. Scientific research keeps pouring in on the many ways so-called illegal substances (often of natural origin) can have a beneficial potential. But the Fabric case once again proves how the use of these substances is targeted for different reasons. This time the law was deployed for closing a club so new apartments can be built. The original War on Drugs instigated in 1971 by U.S. president Richard Nixon was drawn up to make it easier to target student protesters and the civil rights movement. And in this way prohibition can always be used for new targets. As a project of prevention it has been a complete disaster.
In short, keep working for decriminalization, legalization and regulation before your lifestyle is next. Look out for initiatives and read the programs of political parties because some of them do wish to end this dead-end.
