Drink spiking and date rape drugs

Drinks spiked with alcohol or drugs can make a person seriously vulnerable. Spiking someone’s drink carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence in the UK.¹

Always keep an eye on your drink to make it more difficult for someone to spike it. This guide can help you recognise the symptoms of drink spiking so that you can act quickly to help yourself or another possible victim of this crime.

Spiking someone’s drink is a serious crime

Spiking a drink - whether with an extra shot of alcohol or another substance – is a serious crime. Anyone that does it could face serious criminal charges, and it can have very dangerous consequences for the health of the person whose drink is spiked.

Spiking a drink with the intention of making someone more vulnerable to assault, rape or robbery is an even more serious offence. Having sex with someone without their consent is always a crime – no matter what the circumstances are. Assault, rape and robbery all carry additional sentences.

What is drink spiking?

A person’s drink can be spiked to make them more vulnerable for a variety of motives, including theft or sexual assault.

Different types of spiking can include the following substances being added to drinks:

• Alcohol

• ‘Date rape’ drugs

• Illegal drugs

• Prescription drugs (e.g. stimulants, tranquilisers, sedatives, opiates)

Drink spiking can happen to any type of drink, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic. The effects can be unpredictable but are likely to be more serious if someone who’s had their drink spiked has also consumed more alcohol, or other drugs. This is because of the combination of effects from the different drugs working at the same time.

Shots of alcohol can be added to drinks to make them stronger, causing someone to get drunk much quicker than expected. Or sometimes a drink can be spiked with drugs that are specifically designed to incapacitate someone.

Because there are no official statistics it’s difficult to know the true extent of the crime. Often people don’t report drink spiking, because they don’t remember details of the night, or they feel embarrassed.

It can be a scary experience and it’s important to be able to recognise the signs your drink has been spiked or how to help someone you suspect has been a victim.

What are date rape drugs?

Rohypnol (or Roofie) and Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) are the most commonly known ‘date-rape’ drugs. Both drugs can be used to commit physical and sexual assaults as they can sedate or incapacitate a victim, making them more vulnerable to attack.

If your drink has been spiked with a date rape drug it's unlikely that you will see, smell or taste any difference, no matter what type of drink you are having. Most date rape drugs take effect within 15-30 minutes and symptoms usually last for several hours.

'Date-rape drugs' can be odourless, colourless and tasteless. They also leave the body within a short amount of time making them hard to detect.

Recreational drugs like Ecstasy, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), Ketamine and other ‘party-drugs’ are sometimes used to spike alcoholic drinks. Mixing alcohol and stimulants can be very dangerous and can cause serious medical problems, ranging from nausea to coma.

Symptoms of drink spiking

The effects of drink spiking vary depending on what you’ve been spiked with. Your symptoms could include:

• Lowered inhibitions

• Loss of balance

• Feeling sleepy

• Visual problems

• Confusion

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Unconsciousness

The symptoms will depend on lots of factors such as the substance or mix of substances used (including the dose), your size and weight, and how much alcohol you have already consumed.

If you or a friend start to feel strange or more drunk than you should be, then get help straight away.

How to avoid drink spiking

Ensuring all venues are safe from assault and harassment such as drink spiking is a collective responsibility. All venues that are licensed to sell alcohol have a legal duty for public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder on their premises, and this is monitored by their local authority.^2,3 These licenses to sell alcohol usually include conditions to ensure venues have appropriate security and staff training in place.

Some venues give out drink stoppers for the top of your bottle to prevent someone dropping something in your drink.

There are also testing kits that can be used to detect certain drugs. But these don’t test for all types of drugs, so don’t always work, and they can’t detect extra alcohol in your drink.

Reporting suspected drink spiking to a venue and the police is one way to ensure enough steps are being taken to keep people safe.

As individuals, there are also things we can do to help avoid being a victim of drink spiking.

Drink spiking can happen in any situation, at home or on a night out. However, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself:

• Never leave your drink unattended, whether it’s alcoholic or not

• Don’t accept a drink from someone you don’t know

• Avoid drinking too much by sticking to the UK low risk drinking guidelines

• Stick together with friends, and look out for each other

How to help a friend who you think has been spiked

If you think a friend has had their drink spiked, and they are showing any of the symptoms described above there are a few things you can do to help:

• Tell a bar manager, bouncer or member of staff

• Stay with them and keep talking to them

• Call an ambulance if their condition deteriorates

• Don’t let them go home on their own

• Don’t let them leave with someone you don’t know or trust

• Don’t let them drink more alcohol - this could lead to more serious problems

• Report the incident to the police by calling 999 or 101

What to do if you think you’ve been assaulted

One of the effects of date rape drugs can be amnesia, or loss of memory. That means it’s possible that you won’t be sure if you’ve been assaulted. But if you suspect you’ve been physically or sexually assaulted it’s important to tell someone. Try to confide in someone you trust like a friend or family member.

You can go to the police or hospital accident and emergency department by calling 999 or 101 to report it to the police. The police need to know about every possible spiking so they can investigate, even if no other crime has taken place. If you are out in a bar or club, you can report to a member of staff, who will be able to help and support you. If you are injured or have symptoms you are worried about after being spiked, call NHS 111.

If you think you’ve been sexually assaulted, you can go to your nearest sexual assault referral centre (SARC) for specialist care and support. At a SARC you can receive a medical or forensic examination (whether or not you decide to report to the police). If you live in London, or the suspected spiking happened in London, you can also report anonymously via the Metropolitan Police’s website.

If you don’t feel able to do that right away, there are Rape Crisis charity helplines you can call for support and advice:

• England and Wales: 0808 802 9999 (12–2.30pm and 7-9.30pm every day)
• Scotland: 0808 801 0302 or text 07537 410 027 (6pm - midnight every day)
• Northern Ireland: 08000 246 991 (Monday and Thursday, 6 – 8pm)

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by crime, including sexual harassment or any sort of sexual harm, help and support is available. Victim Support is an independent charity for victims and witnesses of crime. They offer free, confidential help to anyone who’s been affected by sexual harassment. Call 08 08 16 89 111 or go to Victim Support's website.

Visit the Victim Support website