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Order inflatables
Order drink sticks
Order stickers
Create posters

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Reactive not preventative - 'that is a big difference' Caitlyn

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write letters to the clubs we hit afterwards with our statistics in t

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Symptoms of a Spiked Drink: Know the Warning Signs | Talk It Out (talkitoutnc.org)

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You're at a party, game, or another social event. You take a sip of your soda or water. Suddenly, you feel funny. Your vision blurs. The room starts to spin. The next thing you know, you wake up hours later, with no recollection of the night before. You may have been a victim of a spiked drink. It sounds like something that only happens in a movie. Unfortunately, it really can happen. A new law working its way through the North Carolina house aims to create more punishments for people that spike drinks.

Spiked drinks may seem like an urban myth, but it happens more often than you think.

How Do I Detect if My Drink was Spiked?

Someone spiking your drink is a very big, and very real, fear in the lives of both students and parents. It's one thing to know what to look for if your child or friend has been drinking. But what if their drink was spiked? Talk It Out NC wants to help you tell if you or your friends may be under the influence of a spiked drink. Watch out for these warning signs to keep you and your friends safe when you go out.

1. The Color of Your Drink has Changed

It may seem obvious, but a change in the color of your drink is a strong indicator that it may be spiked. Some adulterants might turn your drink a darker or lighter color than it was before. Newer versions of some drink-spiking drugs (such as Rohypnol) are designed to turn drinks blue. If you have to ask if it's a different color, pour it out immediately.

2. Your Drink Looks Cloudy

Many drugs that people use to spike drinks are difficult to detect, but there are some warning signs to look out for. If your previously clear drink has a cloudy look to it that it didn't have before, that's a sign that something may have been slipped into it.

3. Excessive Bubbles

This can be trickier to identify, especially with carbonated beverages like soda or sparkling water. Some drugs react with beverages by fizzing up, sending an excess of bubbles to the top of your drink. If you notice this, or see bubbles in a drink that wasn't carbonated, do not drink it and report it to the authorities and/or a responsible adult.

4. Your Drink Tastes Funny

If your drink tastes different than it did before, there's a good chance that it might have been spiked. If you notice a bitter or salty taste in your drink, then someone may have added something to it. If you ever think your drink tastes funny, don't finish it. Throw it out, and be sure to tell someone in charge.

What Signs Can I Look for if My Friend's Drink was Already Spiked?

Sometimes, by the time you notice that someone spiked your or drink or that of a friend, it's already too late. Do you think that you or a friend may have ingested a spiked drink? Know how to spot the signs! It's important that you stay vigilant and know what to look for. These are some of the behaviors and indicators that you might have had your drink spiked.

Sudden Loss of Balance

The effects of a spiked drink can mimic or greatly enhance the effects of alcohol. That includes a loss of balance. If a friend begins behaving in a way that seems inconsistent with what they've been drinking, there's a chance that their drink may have been spiked.

Impaired Speech or Slurring

Are you or your friend having difficulty speaking? Did your friend seem fine a little while ago and is now struggling to put together a sentence? If you notice a marked difference in their speech, they could have been the victim of a spiked drink. If you think your friend may have been drugged, notify the authorities and/or a responsible adult immediately, keep a close eye on them, and preserve the drink as evidence if possible.

Drowsiness

Many of the intoxicants used to spike drinks have sedative properties. That means that these drugs can cause you to feel sleepy or drowsy when you should be wide awake. If you or a friend unexpectedly begin to feel drowsy or light-headed, put down your drink and tell someone you trust. This can prove especially dangerous because when mixed with alcohol, these sedatives can cause coma or even death.
Issues with Vision
Vision problems can be a telltale sign that someone has tampered with your beverage. Are you or your friend experiencing blurred or double vision? Is the room starting to spin around you? Are you beginning to experience hallucinations? All of these are serious symptoms of being a victim of a spiked drink.

Even the most careful person can find themselves with a spiked drink. But if you know what to look for in a potentially spiked beverage, you'll be better prepared to deal with the situation. You can also check your drinks using a new test developed by four North Carolina State University students. Of course, the safest way to ensure that your drink isn't spiked is to only drink from cans or bottles that you opened yourself, and never leave your drink unattended. If you have to ask if your drink has been spiked, it isn't worth the risk. Toss it out! Sign up for the Talk It Out NC newsletter to get even more helpful tips and information about how you can stop underage drinking.

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Symptoms of a Spiked Drink: Know the Warning Signs | Talk It Out

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You're at a party, game, or another social event. You take a sip of your soda or water. Suddenly, you feel funny. Your vision blurs. The room starts to spin. The next thing you know, you wake up hours later, with no recollection of the night before.

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Duty to take reasonable care owed to customers
The Court applied a three prong test to determine that there was a duty of care owed by the management of the night club to its customers:

1. The relationship was sufficiently proximate – customers were paying to be there so the bar had a duty of care towards them (which they would not have towards anyone passing by on the street and not paying to enter the club).  Guests are entitled to feel that they are safe and that there will not be violence in a night club particularly as entry was restricted to hotel residents, members and their guests.

2. Injury was foreseeable – it must be foreseeable to any licensed hotelier that when alcohol is consumed this can lead to violence and there is a risk that one guest might assault another.  The degree of risk will depend on the nature of the establishment, type of customers, history of violent incidents etc.  Where the risk is greater it will be necessary to take more precautions.

3. The Court considered it fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care in this case.

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Protect your customers against violence or be held responsible - Freeths | Legal Specialists for Drinks, Hospitality and Leisure

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Hazel - ask Ma about duty of care when you go into a club

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Hazel - ask Ma about duty of care when you go into a club

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Stop the spike
you wouldnt cactus trynna spike you
name the cactus

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Stickers
Inflatable cactus
twizzle sticks.
Our sweet bods

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Hey Guys,
We're a group of MA students who are putting together a campaign about spiking. Our main focus is that spiking is "easy to get into clubs but it's not easy to get over." We want to raise awareness for how pubs/clubs have a duty of care towards their customers, and hopefully work towards making searching compulsory in every club to help prevent the spiking of drinks/needles. We will also cover the effects of spiking on socials and what services there are to help with the aftermath. We were wondering if you would like to team up with us or be involved in the campaign- it will contain stunts throughout Falmouth and also social coverage. We thought that a physical event will shock people and therefore cause conversation.  We would really love to know what you think and if you were keen to meet were always on campus.

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Think about how much more weren't reported

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Pick your players. Darcy, Toye and Lucy and Hazel compete to spike as many people as possible.
Put stirrers in people's drinks/bring things into clubs/put stickers on people's drinks.
Do mini interviews on the side 'I've just spiked three people'
Voiceover? Cut with videos of people being spiked?
Take photos and footage of the night out.

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A petition to legally require nightclubs to thoroughly search guests on entry has accrued more than 165,000 signatures.

Groups from over 60 universities put pressure on venue owners to tackle the problem, e.g., The Girl's Night In campaign.

But what happened as a result?

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Nearly 200 drink spiking incidents have been reported to police forces across the UK over the past two months, figures reveal.

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pick you player
stats of how many people spiked
the winner is
cut to the effect of people
Game over

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Where would we get them made

our instagram page needs to be on them for more information

we need to buy sticker paper, and then can do printing

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By Lindsay Brown and Imran Rahman-Jones
Newsbeat reporters

Recent stories of women being spiked by injection on nights out have caused worry among students and politicians.

Several UK police forces are investigating possible cases, and the home secretary has asked for an urgent update on the scale of the problem.

Experts say it's unlikely to be happening on a wide scale, and that drink spiking is a more pressing issue.

Medics we've spoken to are divided on how easy it would be to inject someone with drugs without them noticing.

How easy is needle spiking?

Prof Adam Winstock from the Global Drugs Survey says it would be difficult to inject someone with drugs in a night out situation.

"Needles have to be inserted with a level of care - and that's when you've got the patient sitting in front of you with skin and no clothes," he tells Newsbeat.

"The idea these things can be randomly given through clothes in a club is just not that likely."

Prof Winstock, who is a trained consultant psychiatrist, says it would also be "difficult" to keep a needle in someone's skin long enough to get all of the substance in.

"Normally you'd have to inject several millilitres, that's half a teaspoon full of drug - into somebody. That hurts and people notice."

He says alcohol is "by far and away" the most-used drug in spiking, when people slip extra - or stronger - alcohol into someone's drink.

But some medical professionals say it could be possible to inject someone with drugs without them noticing.

Some needles are so thin you can "barely feel [them] going in", says Dr Shirin Lakhani, a cosmetic doctor specialising in women's health.

"[And] if someone's had a drink or so, they might be less inclined to feel the scratch of a needle."

Dr Lakhani - who has previously worked as a GP and anaesthetist - points out that people without medical expertise can learnt to inject, for example diabetic people inject their own insulin.

"If someone has access to needles and syringes and can get into a club, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to impact or hurt somebody in that way," adds Dr Veena Babu, a London-based GP.

Dr Babu says she can appreciate that opinion might be split on this, but "if there are women reporting this has happened, or they've felt dizzy and they've collapsed and noticed bruise marks, we have to respect what they're saying".

She adds that injections under the skin in the thigh or upper arm might be harder to feel, and the effects could take longer to kick in.

Is spiking on the rise?

Figures obtained by the BBC in 2019 revealed a rise in recorded cases of drink-spiking, with more than 2,600 reported incidents in England and Wales since 2015.

But campaigners say those stats don't show the full scale of the problem because many people don't report what's happened to police or visit the doctor quickly enough to do a blood test.

"We know that most spiking isn't injecting - most spiking is with alcohol, ketamine or GBL [a sedative]," criminologist Prof Fiona Measham tells Newsbeat.

Prof Measham teaches at Liverpool University and says a lot of her students are anxious about the recent reports of needle spiking, which first began to surface in Nottingham.

Other police forces across the UK have confirmed they are investigating similar cases.

Prof Measham says spiking might be happening more at this time of year because universities are in their first few weeks of term - when many people who turned 18 over lockdown are going out for the first time.

Police are also concerned over drink spiking at house parties.

"We're not sure about the scale of spiking but it's important to listen to the anxieties, the anger and to be thinking more generally how we can improve safety," adds Prof Measham, who is also director of drug safety organisation The Loop.

How to help a friend who you think has been spiked

Drinkaware has some advice on what to do if you think a friend you're out with has been spiked:

Stay with them and keep talking to them

Call an ambulance if their condition deteriorates

Don't let them go home on their own

Don't let them leave the venue with someone you don't know or trust

Try to prevent them drinking more alcohol as this could lead to more serious problems

Encourage them to get urine and blood tests within 72 hours

What's being done to keep people safe?

Prof Measham's students are among those angry at nightclubs for not having more safety measures in place.

"Some clubs and bar staff haven't been trained in relation to reporting of violence and sexual violence," she says, adding that the " desperate shortage" of security staff isn't helping.

She says clubs need to be better trained in how to deal with people who think they've been spiked or attacked.

The group that represents clubs in the UK says they're doing more staff training and looking at things like drinks covers and testing kits.

"We are working extremely hard with police and people that have experienced this," says Michael Kill from the Night Time Industries Association.

He adds that they want to "raise awareness, communicate, carry out searches, extend our security measures - to ensure that we're keeping people safe at night."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

More on this story

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By Lindsay Brown and Imran Rahman-Jones Newsbeat reporters Recent stories of women being spiked by injection on nights out have caused worry among students and politicians. Several UK police forces are investigating possible cases, and the home secretary has asked for an urgent update on the scale of the problem.

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As of 23 October, the NPCC had also collected 198 reports of drink spiking, in addition to the 56 reports of incidents involving a needle.

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- include services that can help deal with the aftermath

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We need release forms

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Girls Night in - done
Pirate FM
Cornwall Live
Falmouth Anchor
The Tab

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"Notes that police forensic scientist have dismissed ‘drink spiking’ as an ‘urban myth’, which has been used as ‘an excuse to hide abhorrent behaviour or inexperienced drinking" (Brooks, 2014, p. 301)

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"Notes that police forensic scientist have dismissed ‘drink spiking’ as an ‘urban myth’, which has been used as ‘an excuse to hide abhorrent behaviour or inexperienced drinking" (Brooks, 2014, p. 301)

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Police across the UK are investigating dozens of reports of people being spiked with needles in clubs and bars, with fears of a worrying new trend emerging.

The reports, alongside a significant number of drink spiking cases, have led to a nationwide conversation about the crime and inspired a boycott of nightclubs and bars dubbed ' Girls Night In '.

But despite the fact the investigations are in very early stages, the disturbing reports have already given rise to misinformation online. The National Union of Students (NUS) alerted Full Fact to a huge wave of enquiries, with anxious students unable to find the most up-to-date information on the situation without also encountering misinformation.

A spokesperson for the NUS told us: "The wave of headlines and stories about possible 'injection spikings' that have emerged over the past few weeks has led us to be inundated with enquiries from students' unions as it's been hard to determine the scale of the problem and distinguish the truth.

"Students we have spoken to are understandably very anxious and panicked, many women are taking extreme measures in an effort to protect themselves when venturing out and in the absence of clear and verified information they are left to fear the worst.

"It is essential that each case is fully investigated quickly and findings are shared to fill the information vacuum and hopefully assuage concerns around widespread injection spikings."

Here's what we know so far.

Police are investigating reports across the UK

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for drugs, Deputy Chief Constable Jason Harwin, has said: "We have now had responses from all forces across the UK in relation to incidents involving some form of injection, with a total of 56 confirmed reports from across September and October.

As of 23 October, the NPCC had also collected 198 reports of drink spiking, in addition to the 56 reports of incidents involving a needle.

With stories of spiking via injection emerging at a rapid pace through both traditional media outlets and social media, it's very difficult to definitively describe how widespread the reports are. What we do know is that the first reported attack of this type to emerge publicly took place at a nightclub in Nottingham on 11 October.

Nottinghamshire Police have since said they are investigating 15 separate incidents, reported within less than a month, of young women and men being jabbed with "something sharp".

Two men, aged 18 and 19, have been arrested by Nottinghamshire Police on suspicion of conspiring to administer poison, but not in connection with any specific reports of spiking either via injection or drinks. They have since been released under investigation.

Sussex Police is investigating seven reports of women being spiked via injection in Brighton and Eastbourne. Hampshire Constabulary has said it is investigating one report of a woman being spiked by injection at a nightclub in Portsmouth.

Lancashire Constabulary has confirmed it is investigating after a woman reported being injected with an unknown substance in Preston. Norfolk Constabulary has said it has received six reports of people either being spiked or injected.

Wales Online reports that four women in Swansea claimed to have been spiked by injection, though these have not been confirmed. South Wales Police has said it had received "a small number of reports from people" who believed they had been spiked via injection, and was investigating.

The Scottish Sun also reported four stories of suspected spiking with a needle across Scotland, with cases in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen.

Police Scotland told us: "We continue to investigate a very small number of reports across the country from people who report having been "spiked" either with a needle or in their drink.

"We are also aware of posts referring to spiking incidents circulating on social media.

"Our enquiries are ongoing and at this time we do not believe that these reports are linked."

However, not all of the reports made have shown evidence of widespread needle spiking. Three women who reported feeling unwell after nights out in Exeter and suspected they may have been spiked via needles were found to have no traces of spiking drugs in their systems, while police in St Albans said there was no evidence to suggest a woman who reported a potential incident of spiking via injection had been the victim of an offence.

Detective Sergeant Paul Wadsworth, from the St Albans Local Crime Unit, said: "I'd like to publicly praise her actions as she did absolutely the right thing by making her way home with the support of her friends, attending hospital and requesting a blood test as well as reporting it to us so we could investigate."

HIV risk

As reports of spiking via injection started to emerge online, social media posts also began to circulate claiming that recently reported victims of needle injuries had later contracted HIV.

Some messages from official accounts, such as West Yorkshire Police also warned that being injected with an unsterilised needle could expose someone to HIV.

While it is possible to contract HIV through a used needle, the National Aids Trust said this was "extremely rare" and described the social media posts as "demonstrably false" due to the fact that testing and diagnosis takes weeks, not days as was suggested.

Deborah Gold, the chief executive of the National AIDS Trust, told Reuters: "In the UK it is recommended that people wait six weeks after possible exposure to test for HIV. This ensures that those testing can be confident that any negative test is accurate."

Ms Gold said anyone who thinks they have been exposed to HIV in the past 72 hours should go to an A&E or a sexual health clinic.

She added: "There have been no confirmed cases of HIV infections from needle stick injuries in the UK since 1999, and whilst it is possible to acquire HIV by sharing unsterilised injecting equipment, in the UK the number of examples of this each year is very low."

Experts say it's unlikely spiking by needle could be done easily on a wider scale

With the investigations into the attacks still ongoing and new reports appearing frequently via social media, there's very little we can say for sure about the specifics, but experts seem to agree that while it is plausible that spiking by injection could be carried out by an individual or very small group, it's very unlikely that it's being easily replicated on a wider scale.

To get a better idea of what could be happening, we spoke to Guy Jones, senior scientist at The Loop, a non-profit organisation focused on drug safety, and John Slaughter, senior forensic toxicologist at Analytical Services International, which provides toxicological services, including forensic toxicology which is used to identify legal and illegal drugs and poisons.

Both said that the recent cases were the first time they had heard reports of needles being used in spiking cases, and agreed that while it was certainly plausible that one or a very small number of attackers could have attempted to use needles to spike victims in bars and nightclubs, it's unlikely that perpetrators could replicate the method easily on a wider scale.

Mr Slaughter said: "If someone is jabbed with a syringe then their reflex action is going to be to move away within a second or two.

"The opportunity for someone to actually inject enough drug from that syringe to have the effect, I would think, is fairly low. I'm not saying it's absolutely impossible, I'm just saying, in my opinion, it's unlikely."

He added, however, that the fact the chances of effectively spiking someone with a needle are low doesn't mean people aren't being deliberately jabbed by sharp objects while on a night out.

Many of the reports made on social media show what appear to be puncture wounds concentrated in the upper arm, back and thigh.

Mr Jones said: "All of this is against the backdrop of 'why not just add it [drugs] to a drink?' You've got to deliver this drug by injection, clearly that needs to be done in as subtle a way as possible, and so here's a big disadvantage compared to drink spiking-you've got to stab someone with a needle.

"That introduces a very significant element of risk and a massive reduction in plausible deniability for somebody who is administering a spiking agent."

Mr Jones and Mr Slaughter also said it was very unlikely that GHB, the drug most commonly associated with drink spiking, could be used in an attack involving a syringe due to the relatively large volume of liquid needed to effectively drug someone. An attacker would either have to use a very large needle, which would be immediately noticeable to most people, or would have to inject very steadily over a longer period of time-potentially up to 30 seconds-while remaining undetected in a busy nightclub or bar.

The fact it would be very difficult to administer GHB at a high enough quantity to incapacitate a victim means a would-be attacker could use a different type of drug such as a type of benzodiazepine. GHB occurs naturally in the body, which often makes detecting it after a spiking incident very difficult, but benzodiazepines are far easier to detect.

However, Mr Slaughter explained injectable benzodiazepines are not available to the public. There are so-called " designer benzodiazepines ", sold as street drugs such as diazepam, which could also be processed to create injectable spiking solutions but this would be very difficult for someone with no specialist knowledge to do.

Are we in a spiking epidemic?

A significant number of articles about the reports of spiking via injection have described the wider situation as an " epidemic ".

It's hard to get a clear picture of the scale of drink spiking and spiking via injection because there simply isn't recent or comprehensive publicly-available data on the number of reported cases.

The most relevant data we have is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and covers 16 to 59 year-old victims of sexual assault as self-reported through the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This dataset covers victims who reported that they had been drugged during the attack they had experienced, however due to the pandemic the most recent figures are from March 2020.

The question is only asked every three years and the figures from both the most recent and previous surveys are combined to create a larger sample size. They show that in the years ending March 2017 and March 2020, 5.2% of victims reported that they had been drugged by the perpetrator. This breaks down to 5% of female victims, and 9.2% of men.

Freedom of Information requests collected by Sky News and published in 2018 found that reported incidents of spiking had doubled in three years. The BBC reported in 2019 that there had been a rise in the number of cases, with 2,600 reported incidents in England and Wales since 2015.

There has been some suggestion that there is an annual increase in spiking cases every autumn, coinciding with the return of students to university, however we could not find evidence of this in the limited publicly-available data on this issue.

Helena Conibear, CEO of the Alcohol Education Trust, told Vice: "What we've found over 11 years of our existence is that there is a rise in reporting to us [of drink spiking] during freshers' week in the autumn."

Several police forces around England have warned of reports of drink spiking in the last month, including in Northampton, Weymouth and Lincolnshire.

Police Scotland also told Full Fact it had observed a "small but notable increase in October and November".

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What do we know so far about reports of 'spiking' with needles? - Full Fact

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Police across the UK are investigating dozens of reports of people being spiked with needles in clubs and bars, with fears of a worrying new trend emerging. The reports, alongside a significant number of drink spiking cases, have led to a nationwide conversation about the crime and inspired a boycott of nightclubs and bars dubbed ' Girls Night In '.

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to put in social posts / emails / articles

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Its easy to get in but its not easy to get over 

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Its easy to get in but its not easy to get over 

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we got this into the club, we got this into your drink, next your arm

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Article saying Devon and Cornwall police are the best responders to the recent incidents across the UK-

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Article saying Devon and Cornwall police are the best responders to the recent incidents across the UK-

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Police team leading UK’s anti-drink spiking efforts

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Devon and Cornwall Police is working in unison with Best Bar None and various accredited venues in and around the region to tackle drink spiking and help people to feel safe whilst on a night out

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Police response to the recent reported spikings

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Police response to the recent reported spikings

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Police Statement In Response To Drink Spiking and Needle Attacks

One incident of assault reported
Devon and Cornwall Police are working with licensed premises across the region following a rise in the concerns surrounding drink-spiking, and women being attacked with needles in bars and nightclubs.
Police are investigating an incident where a woman has been assaulted with a needle in Fever & Boutique nightclub in Exeter late on Saturday 16 October. Officers are appealing for witnesses and urge that anyone with any information comes forward and contacts police on 101@dc.police.uk quoting crime reference CR/090910/21. This is currently the only incident of this type that we are aware of within Devon and Cornwall.
The force is also tackling the issue of drink-spiking head-on with drink testing kits being made available in bars across the region. Urine testing kits are also available in all police stations to allow us to gain the evidence needed to identify and hold to account those responsible.
Superintendent Antony Hart, Local Policing Commander for Exeter, East and Mid Devon, said: "There has been a lot of media and social media coverage in relation to drink-spiking, plus the understandable fear following a woman being attacked with a needle in a bar in Nottingham. We are investigating an incident in Exeter and progressing enquiries to identify and arrest those responsible.
"Whilst assaults using needles are very rare, we ask that people are vigilant when in crowded spaces and notify premises staff or police of any suspicious behaviour. This incident has also raised the wider issue of drink-spiking and what can be done to combat this.
"Women must be able to feel safe across all aspects of their lives and that includes when out socialising. Those who think it's acceptable to assault women, whether that be verbally, subjecting them to physical attacks or by drink spiking, must be challenged and will be brought to justice where a criminal offence has been committed.
"We are asking for the public to help us to tackle this issue head-on. That means if you have witnessed something suspicious in a bar, then you must report this to door and bar staff immediately.
"We also need people who believe they have been spiked or assaulted to come forward to door staff and the police as soon as possible. Not only does this give us the best chance in catching those responsible, but it will also allow us to get medical treatment for the victim at the earliest opportunity."
Devon and Cornwall police are leading the way nationally having recently launched an anti-drink spiking initiative, following a successful trial in Plymouth in 2019, prior to lockdown.
Sergeant Dave Moore from the Force Licensing Team said: "These kits allow bar staff to test a person's drink to see if it has been interfered with. If it has, this allows evidence to be secured and medical assistance given to the victim. This can also help give peace of mind if the drink comes back clear from tampering.
"Bars who are part of the Best Bar None scheme, Pubwatch and all late-night venues across Devon and Cornwall have been supplied with these drink testing kits. Any other bars who wish to have access to these kits can contact the police licensing team and they will be supplied to them.
"We also have urine testing kits for use by police officers at police stations around the force which can be used for up to three days after the consumption of the drink to test for evidence of spiking.
"We will work closely with the evening and night-time economy to ensure bar and door staff are fully aware of the correct steps to take if a customer has concerns about their drink being spiked.
"These incidents are rare but are simply unacceptable. Please continue to look out for each-other and to report these matters to the police and together we will stop this predatory behaviour."
Further advice on personal safety can be found here: https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/advice/your-personal-safety/.

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Police Statement In Response To Drink Spiking and Needle Attacks One incident of assault reportedDevon and Cornwall Police are working with licensed premises across the [...]

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(Image: Erin Black)

Cornwall's venues are boosting measures to combat drink spiking in response to pressure over a nationwide boycott of clubs next week.

The boycotts will take place throughout the week with cities choosing their date according to student nights. It is scheduled for Wednesday, October 27, in Cornwall.

This comes following the 'Girls Night In' movement calling for venues to take spiking more seriously with active efforts to combat and prevent the crime. While they recognise that it is the fault of the individual criminal, they feel clubs could be doing more to ensure the safety of their customers.
Read more: People asked to pinpoint Devon and Cornwall places where they feel unsafe on map
The initiative began in Edinburgh and has gathered momentum across the country with 6,000 followers on its Instagram and many cities creating replica pages.

A wave of posts about drink spiking on social media, as well as reports of people being injected in Nottingham and Exeter, has led many people to feel unsafe and anxious on nights out.

In Falmouth alone, there have been three alleged incidents of drink spiking since September.

Joe Peeboes, owner and doorman of the popular Falmouth club, Toast, said: "We support the boycott and hope it raises awareness for the issue. It's an absolutely hideous offence and cruel that what I imagine is such a small percentage of criminals can ruin the fun for so many people."

Many clubs in Cornwall are part of the Devon and Cornwall Police 's spike awareness campaign. The campaign provides licensed properties with drink testing kits and awareness posters to help customers recognise the early signs of spiking.

In light of the boycott, venues have renewed their efforts to do everything they can to both prevent spiking and ensure best practice if an incident occurs.

Warwick Roden at The Office in Truro said: "We have a duty of care for everyone under our roof. We will continue to do our best with thorough body and bag searches on entry and further training for bar staff who are best placed to both identify and handle cases of spiking."

This corresponds with a petition to make it a legal requirement for nightclubs to thoroughly search guests on entry. It has currently received 127,000 signatures so far.

The owner of the Falmouth bar, The Games Room, has taken similar measures and emphasised the community responsibility to keep one another safe.

"Even if you are not on our premises, if you feel you are in danger or need to be tested, our doors are open, and we will make sure you are safe", she said.

However, Joe from Toast expressed concern for the departure of Falmouth's street marshals who were introduced during the pandemic to implement Covid measures but remained in place during freshers events.

"Funding for the marshalls runs out at the end of October, but they've been a brilliant extra support and are highly first aid trained," he said.

With ambulance services under immense strain, it is crucial that there are first-aid trained professionals on the scene to respond immediately in the event of spiking.

Joe also said that he believes it is crucial to take preventive action at the source of the offence, getting insight into the mindsets of the criminals.

"Why are people doing this? I find it very puzzling," he said, echoing the sentiment of many.

Similar concerns have been expressed on Twitter at the name of the 'Girls Night In' movement. They argue that, once again, the onus is falling on women to change their behaviour rather than those committing the crime.

However, this comes at the same time that student-led violence against women and girls (VAWG) groups have received funding, along with six new CCTV cameras, as part of the £33,000 grant from the government's Safer Streets fund.

The group hopes to run awareness campaigns and projects, as well as bystander training for staff employed in the night-time economy, that aim to address the underlying social factors behind crimes, like spiking, that disproportionately affect women.

Anna MacGregor, domestic abuse and sexual violence co-ordinator at Cornwall Council, said: "Women and girls should not feel threatened or intimated on our streets.

"The increased CCTV is a great asset in relation to everyone's safety in Falmouth, but it is the awareness raising and training that will have long term impact and help to highlight the longstanding risk posed to women and girls in our society.

"We have to dismantle long-standing cultural, societal and gender norms and to do this we need to engage with everyone in our communities and collectively challenge inequality from a gender informed perspective."

'Girls Night In' also emphasised that, despite its name, anybody can be affected by drink spiking, regardless of gender, and encouraged everyone to get behind the movement by supporting the boycott next week.
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Cornwall venues boost measures against drink spiking

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Cornwall's venues are boosting measures to combat drink spiking in response to pressure over a nationwide boycott of clubs next week. The boycotts will take place throughout the week with cities choosing their date according to student nights. It is scheduled for Wednesday, October 27, in Cornwall.