What Is Drink Spiking?

Drink spiking is when something has been added to your drink without your knowledge; this includes additional alcohol as well as drugs. Mind-altering substances can also be added to food.

Drink spiking has gone on for thousands of years and while it is relatively rare, it appears to be on the increase. Drink spiking is often done just for fun, but it can have serious consequences. Adding alcohol or drugs to someone’s food or drink can aggravate a medical condition or react badly with medication.

Drink spiking is often in the news linked with the rape drug Rohypnol, but there are several reasons why people spike drinks, the most common being:

Amusement
Sexual assault/rape
Theft / robbery
Kidnap / extortion

While drink spiking might be seen as “just a bit of fun”, it is against the law and can lead to 10 years’ imprisonment.

If sexual assault, robbery or theft are involved then the penalties are even higher.

Although women are the main victims of drink spiking, it is thought that 11% of victims are male.

Only 1 in 5 rapes are reported each year. Nationally, over 900 drink spiking incidents were reported in 2002; this means that as many as 4,500 of these offences could have been carried out.

What Is Drink Spiking?

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