Drink Spiking

Victoria set to get tough clamp on drink spiking

Drink spiking is likely to be declared a serious crime carrying heavy penalties.

The law change, proposed by the Victorian Parliament's Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee, has won bipartisan political support.

The committee has also proposed tougher laws for people caught with chemicals used to make drugs, stricter safety standards for rave party organisers and mandatory drug testing for nightclub bouncers.

Health Minster Bronwyn Pike said yesterday the Government would consider the committee's proposals, but it is believed the drink spiking rule is the most likely to become law.

"It is a terrible thing to spike another person's drink," Ms Pike said.

The Victorian move comes after a national study by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that 1400 people were sexually assaulted each year after having their drinks spiked. Sixty per cent of spiking occurred in homes rather than at rave parties or licensed premises and most were pranks played on friends.

In March, Isabel Kenton, a 21-year-old aged care nurse, died after she told her grandfather her drink was spiked during a night out with friends at a Mornington pub.

The parliamentary committee's chairwoman, Carolyn Hirsch, said there was a clear need for a law to deal with drink spiking.

She said the proposal to force nightclub bouncers to undergo random drug tests was a response to anecdotal evidence that some were drug users.

She said sports people had to undergo random testing and "we think it is a pretty reasonable position" for bouncers to undergo checks.

The parliamentary report on party drug use has also proposed strict rules for rave parties, including standards on ventilation, "chill-out" spaces, first-aid training and the availability of drinking water.

The committee has also proposed that people who want to buy more than two packets of cold medication containing pseudoephedrine might have to produce photo ID in an effort to stop drug dealers getting their hands on the tablets.

Other proposals include the introduction of retractable single-dose syringes and a ban on so-called "pill testing kits" because they are misleading to drug users.

State Opposition police spokesman Kim Wells, a member of the committee, said Liberal members supported all of the recommendations.

He said the drink spiking law was clearly needed.

Jill Meade, manager of the Victorian drug user organisation VIVAIDS, said the drink spiking was most often related to sexually predatory behaviour.

Click to expand...

Other proposals include <irrelevant snipped> a ban on so-called "pill testing kits" because they are misleading to drug users.

Click to expand...