lil angel15
Bluelight Crew
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The myth of drink spiking
Party season is upon us, so today I thought we'd talk about a subject that affects men and women alike, because we both end up dealing with the wreckage when it happens and the hysteria it causes the rest of the time: drink spiking.
Let me ask you all a question: if modern medicine could make a drug that was odourless, colourless and tasteless and knocked you out for hours, why the hell do sleeping tablets taste so bad?
Why does Aspirin, perhaps the most widely ingested medicine in the world, taste like a sugar-soap thick shake? Why does cough medicine taste like crap?
Why? Because it's almost impossible to make a drug that is odourless, colourless and tasteless and this is the great myth of the drink spiking that lurking behind every night club pillar is a loathsome creep who's armed with this mystery drug ...
The Australian Institute of Criminology's `National Project on Drink Spiking' report says that "the term `drink spiking' refers to drugs or alcohol being added to a drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) without the consent of the person consuming it." (The Italics are mine.)
It is an interesting bubble in our collective morality that we rightly see adding a sleeping tablet to someone's vodka and tonic as wildly irresponsible, yet ordering a 60kg woman a double or triple without their knowledge is just a giggle.
In fact, adding extra alcohol to a friend or stranger's drink is the most widespread form of drink spiking in the country "but people don't see this as drink spiking", says Paul Dillon of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia.
The National Project on Drink Spiking report says that "despite considerable media and public perceptions concerning the prevalence of drugs such as flunitrazepam, GHB and Ketamine being used in drink spiking, the forensic evidence to date does not support these claims".
"Alcohol has tended to dominate results and it is not clear whether this is because (a) alcohol is commonly used to spike drinks, (b) other drugs have left the body by the time of testing and so only alcohol is left to detect, or (c) people are unaware how much alcohol they are actually drinking."
I reckon I've met a dozen girls (and one guy) who claim to have been spiked - and while I'm sure they all believe that to be the case, many people fail to take into consideration things like a day in the sun, dehydration and an empty stomach, then slam four or five Smirnoff Black Ices and when they feel dizzy and nauseous, think it's spiking.
"We also have this myth that it's impossible to detect spiking drugs, and that you can't taste or see them,'' says Dillon.
The majority of drink spiking cases probably involve sleeping tablets, "which leave a gritty, bitter residue" or the drug GHB, "which is the most vile-tasting, foul-smelling substance you can imagine", he says.
"Anybody who says they couldn't tell they'd been spiked with GHB was probably pretty intoxicated to start with," says Dillon.
And this is where the mythology of drink spiking does more harm than good.
I'd wager many people, young girls in particular, feel vulnerable because they're told they'll never be able to tell if their drink is spiked as date-rapists have perfected this "odourless, colourless and tasteless" magical drug.
In fact, in the majority of cases where drugs are used, you will be able to taste or see a change in your drink, so the best way you can avoid being spiked is to keep your wits about you when you're in strange or unfamiliar environments and not get slaughtered.
Personal responsibility when it comes to alcohol intake may be an unpopular message at this time of year (or any other time of the year for that matter) but it is the easiest thing you can do to safeguard against spiking.
"If you're stone cold sober it's gonna be a pretty brave drink spiker who tries it on," says Dillon, "that message gets lost in the drink spiking discussion. One of the big things about drinking to excess is that you are automatically more at risk."
This is not to say that sober people are never spiked, or that drunk people deserve it, but it's an unfortunate part of life that we all have to be aware of.
SMH