There are 12 hours of my life that always remain a complete mystery. What started with dinner and a few drinks with a friend ended with me arriving on a street in London, completely filthy, bruised and with my eyes like saucers, I don’t remember how I got there. After a passerby volunteered to help, called my friends and got me into the back seat of the ambulance, I finally realized my drink had been spiked. I am frightened and disappointed that whoever was responsible got away with this.
When this happened to me, at age 24, there were no numbers tracking how widespread the increase in drinking was. But since the National Police Chiefs’ Council began recording incidents last year, 6,732 people have been reported to police; Drugs (such as Rohypnol or other sedatives) were often found to be administered into people’s drinks or, in some cases, by injection. . But many victims don’t report it – I never did – and the real figure is likely to be much higher. A YouGov poll found that 11 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men said they had been subjected to nails. Another showed that four in 10 people think the police would not believe them if they reported what was happening.
Spiking is often overlooked as a problem that only affects the young and careless, but this is simply not true. I know a 44-year-old man whose drinking was targeted while he was with his teenage child, and this has happened to women in their 50s as well; A woman died after her drink was drugged. This weekend, journalist and broadcaster Kate McCann revealed how she fell victim to a “brazen” rise despite being with a large group of friends at the time.
This begs the question: What are spikers up to? Available data shows that sexual assault and robbery are the justifications and that spikers try to take advantage of the people they drug in one third of the cases, most of the time spikers just want to play a “prank” on their victims in a twisted game.
I would say about 90 percent of my friends are medicated, and men are not exempt. A friend of a friend fainted almost immediately after taking three sips of alcohol at the bar, collapsing and losing consciousness, waking up to a bouncer standing over him and having no idea what had happened. “I was completely sober, then I felt faint,” she recalls. “All of a sudden my legs buckled.”
He, like me, was shocked at the speed at which the stimulant drugs worked. I saw this firsthand three years ago when a friend was treated to nails. He went from completely coherent to collapsed, slurring his words and unable to stand; It was scary to even watch. I was happy to be there to help, but I also emphasized how terrifying these situations can be for those who are separated from their friends and left under the influence of these drugs, having to deal with their horrific effects alone.
It also showed me that although I have always taken every precaution, including always buying bottled beer, to reduce the chances of someone dropping something in my drink, there is no real way to make yourself a target – often for no apparent reason . I don’t remember anything about what happened when the medicine took effect, but I do remember how I felt afterward. This was a completely traumatic experience; like feeling empty and outside of your own body; If you’ve never done drugs (like I haven’t), it’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. It’s not even close to the worst hangover ever.
Neither my friend nor I could point to a single person who might have been the reason for adding alcohol to my drink the night I was drugged; But my brother, who is a police officer, told me that there were many cases where bar staff spiked customers’ drinks. At that time, early in the night.
And if you suspect a perpetrator, it can be nearly impossible to bring charges against him or her, as the drugs will leave your system within a few hours (in many cases, less time than it would take to refer you to someone at the hospital who can test you). first place. For those who get tested in time and report it to the police, the likelihood of someone being charged or convicted is incredibly low. Freedom of information requests submitted by Channel 4 to all UK police forces showed that among the 39 people who responded, only 0.25 per cent of incidents reported led to charges.
Laura Farris, Conservative MP for Newbury and Under-Secretary of State for Victims and Protection, said: “Spiking is now part of an MP’s weekly work. People… are increasingly writing to say this is a problem. “It happens often.” In recent years, epidemics of pinning (especially with needles) have popped up on college campuses, and it’s hard to accept that so little has still been done in the two decades since my horrific incident. We need more education about spikes and their effects, how to deal with their aftermath, and heavy fines for those found guilty.
I never told my family what happened to me; I didn’t want to worry them. But I talked about it with others, including my teenage nieces, because I felt so strongly that this was something people needed to know: it’s so easy, it can happen out of the blue, and it’s truly terrifying. We still need better protection and justice for the many people who are unfairly victimized.
As told to Charlotte Lytton
