Female students are being injected now with date rape drugs in nightclubs

[GoWalkabout]

I won't post the Facebook post I saw because its on a forum but apparently there have been several reported incidents of students in Exeter nightclubs being injected in the back (not by people they are with) while out. The newspapers really need to get on this story and nightclubs who are reportedly batting back complaints saying that the women are just drunk need to deal with this criminality on their premises. We are not prey.

[GoWalkabout]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f95cf4a0-2c68-11ec-a548-f9bb1ebf6985?shareToken=032a34069f70eec769f49043396f07fb

[Lockheart]

I'm not saying this is fake, but I'd like some more information - it sounds a bit modern day urban legend to me. From the article, it seems only posts on social media are saying anything about this, has it been confirmed by hospitals at all? Has anyone been tested for drugs (I'm aware they won't always show up) or had a puncture wound confirmed? Is there any source other than anonymous posts on instagram? I do not think it unlikely that someone is trolling just to make women afraid to go out.

I also can't imagine it's easy to inject someone without them knowing at the time, it hurts!

[Rainbowheart1]

Surly it hurts, and if your loving the needle drags and bruises.

I don’t think it sounds real to be honest

[Rainbowheart1]

Moving!! Not loving…oh my! 🤦🏼‍♀️

[GoWalkabout]

I totally take your point - the reports do seem to be clustered in certain places. My hypothesis would be that if it is happening, it would likely be predators who infiltrate freshers events to abuse women, and they are predicting that they can easily isolate a victim from very 'new' friends when she becomes apparently drunk. I hope its not true to be honest. A parent posted on the WIWIKAU Facebook page that her dd is in hospital being checked out after being injected while out in Exeter last night.

[picklemewalnuts]

Think it's happening in Nottingham as well.

[Limefizz]

This happened to DS's friend in a club in Sheffield, felt a sharp prick then felt totally out of it. They took her home and she was okay the next day.

Very worrying if it's so wide spread.

[GoWalkabout]

I'm so sorry that happened to his friend Limefizz. I wonder if the substance has been identified in any of these cases?

[Limefizz]

Tbh I took it with a pinch of salt but these other reports are worrying.

[speedyhedgehog]

Dd told me this is happenning in edinburgh too. I don't know if its myth or fact but they are all concerned about it.

[SingingSands]

This has reportedly also happened in Liverpool. I felt sick when I found out.

[heymammy]

This story is doing the rounds in Glasgow as well. I'm inclined to think it's an urban rumour but have also talked to eldest dc about it.

If it's real then it's pretty hard to protect yourself against so unsure how to deal with it tbh.

[heymammy]

Sorry @Limefizz I didn't clock your post before I posted, sorry it happened your son's friend :(

[Snozzlemaid]

My daughter is in Exeter and has heard a few stories of this happening.
It's terrifying as a parent. I can't stop her going out but the worry of this happening to her is awful.
I saw the post on Facebook and the girl who got injected last night has not only spent the night in hospital but now has weeks to wait to have tests for HIV.
What on earth has happened that anyone thinks this is a good thing to do?

[VaguelyInteresting]

It wouldn’t shock me if it were happening. Horrify me, yes, but not shock me.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

A friend of mine has a dd at university in Newcastle and told me about this the other day. I wonder if there’s anywhere it’s NOT said to be happening.

[Lockheart]

Out of interest, when did these reports start cropping up in all these different places? Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham, Exeter, Edinburgh, Glasgow?

If they all began at around the same time (i.e. very recently), I think that suggests it's an internet myth; very little else spreads that far that fast. I would question the idea that there's an apparently extremely well-organised national plan to start injecting women in nightclubs - not when spiking drinks is (to be blunt) an easier and more subtle option than sticking a needle into someone. Spiking drinks doesn't require any special equipment or anything to be smuggled in. All you need is vodka or other clear spirits, which are in plentiful supply in a club.

However, the idea of an injection has that edge of a horror element to it, which is why I think it might be fabricated (either entirely or from one or two isolated incidents) to scare women. We all know spiking is a risk anyway, so maybe some idiot somewhere felt the scare factor needed ramping up.

It's like rumours of razor-blades under stickers or in Halloween sweets - not entirely fake, but wildly exaggerated on the internet.

[Lockheart]

Also, thinking about this scientifically, an intramuscular injection would take longer for the victim to feel the effects, whereas reports on google are saying that victims 'immediately' felt unwell / dizzy. You'd really only get that with an intravenous injection, which is obviously not what is being reported if it is suggested the injections are into the back (plus I doubt even an expert phlebotomist would be able to start sizing up a moving person's veins in a crowded and dark nightclub!). An intramuscular injection would work, but it would take a short while for the effects to take hold.

Unless the media is reporting it incorrectly (which is certainly a possibility), it doesn't really make sense.

[Emmxfour]

Sadly it is being reported in mainstream media and happened to one of my daughter’s friends on a night out in Nottingham. Police and hospitals aware but also amplified by assumptions that sn unconscious girl is ‘ just drunk’ so delays in getting to a and e.
Can’t be that hard to use CCTV to identify who is doing this I would have thought.
It is very frightening.

[Mantlemoose]

Heard the same Alloa/Stirling. Truly believe it's an urban myth. Does no harm to ensure being extra vigilant but I think its highly unlikely to be true in so many places.

[CatBarb]

So sorry to tell you that this isn't a myth, it's absolutely frightening! My friends daughter got injected on Saturday night in Nottingham, she was so lucky that she managed to lock herself in the toilet after she realised she couldn't move her arms and legs or shout.
She found an injection site in her arm where they have used a numbing wipe (it wiped off her fake tan).. they had even put a ring on her finger saying 'Cry Baby'.. we have pics of this.
She is a medical student, very sensible girl, hardly had any drinks and was out with her boyfriend!

[ChrissyPlummer]

Sounds similar to the ‘perfume spray’ cobblers of a few years ago. The BBC reported that one as fact; it has now been removed from any internet search. As pp said, injections don’t work that quickly and, unless you know what you’re doing, I imagine quite hard to administer effectively while people are moving about.

[Lockheart]

Interesting that both recent posts saying it's happening are new accounts with no posting history and it always happens to a friend's daughter or a daughter's friend. Always a friend of a friend or a cousin or something.

Classic hallmarks of an urban myth.

I actually looked back through Twitter for incidences of this. All tweets talking about it started around the 11-13 October. Odd that it erupted all over the country in the space of 48 hours.

There's also no such thing as a numbing wipe. Numbing cream, yes, and alcohol cleaning wipes, yes, but no numbing wipes. Almost as if the story is being cobbled together from half-truths.

[DaisyNGO]

@CatBarb

So sorry to tell you that this isn't a myth, it's absolutely frightening! My friends daughter got injected on Saturday night in Nottingham, she was so lucky that she managed to lock herself in the toilet after she realised she couldn't move her arms and legs or shout.
She found an injection site in her arm where they have used a numbing wipe (it wiped off her fake tan).. they had even put a ring on her finger saying 'Cry Baby'.. we have pics of this.
She is a medical student, very sensible girl, hardly had any drinks and was out with her boyfriend!

How did they get a chance to use a numbing wipe? And if they are using a substance that can incapacitate so fast, why bother?

Smells like urban myth.

[DaisyNGO]

And how do you lock yourself in a loo if you can't move your arms and legs? Not impossible but...