Please tell MPs about Drink spiking - survey closes 11.59pm tonight 5 Jan

[Slothtoes]

This is an important opportunity to let MPs know about your views and experiences on this issue. Please consider contributing to their survey to help to keep this on their radar and to encourage them to make new laws and to call for improved services, specifically to support women and girls affected by drink spiking.

Several practical problems have been raised in previous MN threads on this issue, including: Lack of joined up approaches between police and NHS in general on this and including that girls and women affected can often find it hard to get tests and information from either of them in the short time window they have. There seems to be little training on this at GPs and little support available. SARCs are a good place to get support, but they are also not always easily accessible depending on where you live. The drugs that the perps typically use in spiking are only class C or B, despite them being well known to be increasingly used to sexual assault, rape and rob girls and women.

The link to the survey and more info about what the committee is looking at is here:

committees.parliament.uk/committee/83/home-affairs-committee/news/159582/home-affairs-committee-launches-inquiry-into-spiking/

More info:
‘Have you experienced or witnessed drink spiking? MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee have launched a new inquiry to understand better the prevalence of spiking and the effectiveness of the police response to it.

They are seeking your views and experiences as a victim or a witness of spiking at nightclubs, pubs, festivals and private house parties.’

Find out more about the inquiry on the Committee's website: committees.parliament.uk/committee/83/home-affairs-committee/news/159582/home-affairs-committee-launches-inquiry-into-spiking/

Respond to the Committee's survey

‘The Committee has launched a survey for you to respond to. This survey will ask you about:

• Your experiences as a victim or witness of spiking.
• Support victims may have received following an incident of spiking.
• Any efforts victims have made to report an incident of spiking.
• Personal information, such as age, gender and race.
• Your views on what more can be done to tackle the issue of spiking.’

This survey closes at 11.59pm on 5 January 2022. You can complete the survey via a link available on the page linked to above.

MN thread from Nov 2021:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4394614--to-wonder-how-prevalent-spiking-really-is

MN thread from October 2021:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4385650-AIBU-or-are-teenage-girls-too-afraid-to-go-out-at-night-Afraid-because-of-drink-spiking-and-being-injected

I could list several more going back for years.

It takes ten minutes to complete. If you’ve been both a witness and a victim of spiking they do ask you to complete it once in each capacity, so doing the survey twice.

Regarding confidentiality/anonymity if you respond:

*Your answers will be kept anonymous and only the receiving officer and supporting staff from the committee team will be able to see your response. Your comments may be published and used in Committee proceedings but will not be attributed to an individual and care will be taken not to include any specific identifying information as to your location or organisation, for example. The answers to this survey will be aggregated to inform the Committee’s inquiry.

You can find out more about the inquiry and submit evidence at: committees.parliament.uk/work/1696/spiking/

Thanks for the heads up Slothtoes, I missed this one.

Thanks. Wish I’d seen it to post it earlier- but there’s still time!
I’d say it can be done in 5 mins or less.

Oh what’s a shame I didn’t see this earlier, I only remember to check the chat page as well every few days :(

Woman thank you. Me too but I thought the mods would object if I used the sex & gender board where many more women are, since the big split.
I’d say it’s still worth looking at the links above if you’d like to share anything with the committee. They may still be happy to hear from people by email outside the official survey while they are on this topic.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17251610/

"Conclusions: Most patients allegedly having had a spiked drink test negative for drugs of misuse. The symptoms are more likely to be a result of excess alcohol"

There's a lot of panic about drink spiking but this study suggests it isn't as common as people think.

Its a ridiculous conclusion, spiking includes extra measures of alcohol.

I’m not sure how relevant it is how many or few women and girls this affects, anecdotally it is widespread but even if it only affected a few of them- it’s still a disgusting violating thing to do and is well known to be used as the vehicle for subsequent crimes of rape, sexual assault and robbery. Spiking could potentially kill directly or indirectly by incapacitation. It’s a form of poisoning.
But of course, yes, we’re all free to dismiss that as ‘panic’ if we want to.

Interesting conclusion given 19% of patients presenting at emergency department did turn out to have been spoiled and only 14% of the patients presenting at the emergency department informed the police of their concerns. That shows total number of cases underreported to the police.

I was drugged twice by spiked drinks as a student. I realised later by the same person. Once he raped me, my memory has huge gaps but I remember that. I have no recollection of anything after the other time so no idea if he also raped me then.

Two spiked drinks in a lifetime low, consequences rather more significant.

I’m quite sure many people think they have been spiked when they have just drunk too much but also sure some people have been spiked and they think they have just drunk too much.

The methodology and sample used in that study is too limited to conclude there isn’t a problem with drinks being spiked

I’m really sorry Witch
Absolutely agree on your other points.

Just to flag that the call for evidence which anyone can respond to with their views or experiences, is open until midday on 19 Jan: it’s just the survey part of their evidence-gathering that’s finished.

committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/655/

"I was drugged twice by spiked drinks as a student"

How do you know?

@MargaritaPie

"I was drugged twice by spiked drinks as a student"

How do you know?

I’m going to assume your question is in good faith, for obvious reasons I’m not going to describe every detail.

Felt like I was extremely drunk although not quite drunk more spacy and I hadn’t even had one drink just part of one so couldn’t be drunk

One time I was mostly blacked out, no idea how i got back to my room afterwards confusion for hours, I couldn’t remember my name at one point

Other time I was more conscious but with massive gaps in my memory. A little way into my drink I realised something was very wrong and got back to my room. I remember being in my room, later I came to & found myself in someone else’s room naked with no recollection of how I got there (different block). I couldn’t move or say anything, thankfully I blacked out again as I couldn’t stop what was happening. Again confusion afterwards.

MargaritaPie this has been extremely upsetting and difficult to write so please do not be abusive

Thank you for replying.