22 October 2021 - Reports of drink spiking rise in the UK
Needle Spiking: What Is It and Why Is It Happening?
Kate Ng (The Independent, 21/10/21)
University students have been reporting an increasing number of spiking by injection incidents while in nightclubs and other nightlife venues across the UK.
In recent weeks, reports of such incidents have emerged in Nottingham, Exeter, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Nottinghamshire Police are investigating 12 separate reports of young women and men being “spiked” in less than a month.
St Andrews University: safety measures introduced over drink-spiking concerns
Libby Brooks and Maya Wolfe-Robinson (The Guardian, 21/10/2021)
Random bag searches, safety patrols and testing of unattended drinks are to be introduced at University of St Andrews student venues after a surge in concern about drink spiking, with reported incidents in four university cities across Scotland.
The university’s student association has announced a series of measures at their four campus bar venues, including training for staff on spiking, new signs that highlight what to do if you think you or someone else has been spiked, and sourcing test strips for common spiking drugs to use on drinks or urine.
Drink spiking: Leeds clubs bring in new safety measures
(BBC, 21/10/2021)
Nightclubs in Leeds have brought in new measures to help combat drink spiking after calls for venues to do more to protect people.
Students have reported an "epidemic" of drink-spiking in the city and have backed movement calling for a boycott of clubs and bars over the issue.
Przym and HiFi Club in Leeds said they would step up searches and give out drinks covers in response to concerns.
How to recognise a drink that’s been spiked – and what to do if you think you’ve been drugged
Jessica Lindsay (Metro, 20/10/2021)
We’re currently in the middle of a spate of reports of drink spiking, with incidences of the crime almost doubling in just three years.
Students across the country are boycotting nightlife venues this week too, starting a movement called Girls Night In in response to numerous women taking to social media to say they’d been drugged in clubs and bars.
Many of us know someone who’s had their drink spiked, but given that around 60% of crimes aren’t reported it’s difficult to get the full scale of the problem.