Let’s talk about…SPIKING
Last weekend saw nightclubs opening up for the first time after eighteen months or so of lockdown, an easing of restrictions that had been highly anticipated by most college students. Although Covid figures continue to spark apprehensáion for a lot of would-be club-goers, the absence of that part of the social scene had definitely been felt. People returning to nightclubs will certainly bed hoping that it’s a credible sign of ‘returning to normal’.
However, the return to nightlife in recent weeks has also served to highlight the growing issue of spiking, particularly among college students.
The issue of spiking is, unfortunately, nothing new. Young women have long been armed with the same advice against it – keep your drink covered or buy a cover, watch the bartender make your drink, never leave your glass unaccompanied, use special colour-changing nail varnish to check if your drink’s been spiked, etc. Yet, all of this sound advice seems to fall short against a new method of spiking that has been popping up in the UK and Ireland.
Instead of placing a pill into an unsuspecting person’s drink, in recent weeks reports have circulated that women are being spiked through the use of a needle.
If the needle is thin, someone who is out and has already had a few drinks may not notice the sting of an injection in a crowded venue, and in any case, are essentially powerless against preventing or foreseeing it until it’s too late. Additionally, spiking by injection carries an extra risk, as unclean/shared needles can pose health threats outside of the actual drugging (and its intent) itself.
In all, the phenomenon of spiking by injection seems all the more insidious due to how much harder it is to protect oneself against it. That same advice that has protected young women in the past now feels irrelevant, and although reports of spiking by injection are relatively low at the moment, it is something that is truly terrifying for a young person trying to ‘return to normal’.
In both the UK and Ireland, it seems the issue is most prevalent in university cities. In my own college circle, I’ve seen fellow female students sharing social media stories warning people of the risks, sharing information on how to keep safe, and in some cases, outing people they have seen trying to do this on nights out. The return to college nightlife was always bound to resurrect the issues around keeping safe on a night out, especially in a post-Covid context, but the emergence of this more covert method is something that has felt deeply troubling for a lot of people.
For female students, many of whom may’ve taken some reassurance in the measures you can take to prevent drink spiking, it is upsetting that the increase in reliable advice has not resulted in a decrease in incidences, but rather in an escalation in the methods of spiking itself.
Opinion among experts suggest that at the moment, spiking by injection is unlikely to be happening on a large scale, and drink spiking remains the more pressing issue. Recorded incidences of spiking have been on the rise in recent years (not taking unreported cases into account), so the hope remains that this issue does not become more widespread in the wake of more late-night venues reopening.
If you are going out, make sure to heed the relevant advice. Keep an eye on your friends and have them do the same for you, and if you suspect you have been spiked, notify someone trustworthy as soon as possible and seek medical help.
If you suspect you’ve been injected, the advice is to encourage the wound to bleed, hold it under running water, wash the wound with soap (avoid scrubbing while washing), and cover it with plaster or dressing.
Protecting against Covid and maintaining your personal safety are the main focuses for students currently navigating the return to nightlife, and this phenomenon is just another in the list of worries.
In the end, the burden falls upon our government to instill appropriate safety measures in the face of the growing issue of spiking and the emerging issue of spiking by injection. But, as sadly is often the case when it comes to safeguarding young women, it is young women themselves who are tasked with taking precautions and looking after themselves and their peers when out.
Hopefully the coming weeks will see this issue addressed in an appropriate manner at national level, and in the meantime, as nights out work themselves back into normality, make sure to keep yourself and others safe.
