Don’t let a night out, become a ‘spiked’ experience.
It seems that young people still have the misguided and naïve perception that when it comes to bad experiences, “well, it’s not gonna happen to me”. It’s more common than we realize and since reports have surfaced that Rhodes students are increasingly becoming targets, we need to be more careful. This doesn’t mean stay indoors and trust no-one, simply be more aware and more cautious. You could save yourself, a friend or even a stranger from a horrific experience. It’s not uncommon for people to brush off the anxiety of drink spiking, a focus group study of young women’s perceptions concerning such risks encountered comment’s such as ‘Spiked drinks: "I'm more worried about getting home on the train"’. Being cautious isn’t going to ruin your fun, in fact it’ll probably put your mind at ease. I’ve got a few tips that are easy and could prevent an awful experience.
Firstly, it’s important to know that people spike drinks for various reasons, the most common are to carry out sexual assault, rape or theft. However, people often do it for amusement, so be aware friends or friends of friends may target you without realizing the consequences.
There are symptoms that you can watch out for, but be careful not to confuse these with excess drinking or ‘drunkenness’. A scary reality is that student’s are perfect targets for this kind of assault, because these symptoms go unnoticed. Be aware and make sure your friend’s ‘smashed’ behaviour is not something more serious. Don’t be afraid to ask a friend to help you out if you think your drink may have been spiked, after all isn’t that what friend’s are for….find someone you can trust.
Many of the drugs used are not difficult to find and recently people have started experimenting with anti-depressants and eye-drops. Yes guys, eye-drops, the kind that anyone can get hold of. You probably won’t notice the drug as they mostly don’t have any affect on the look, taste or smell of your drink. So be careful.
The best way to prevent having your drink spiked is by taking the following simple precautions:
The best way to prevent having your drink spiked is by taking the following simple precautions:
- keep your drink in your hand, and hold your thumb over the opening if you are drinking from a bottle,
- keep an eye on your friends' drinks,
- do not leave your drink unattended at any time, even while in the toilet,
- stay away from situations that you do not feel comfortable with,
- never accept a drink from anyone you do not know or trust,
- do not share or exchange drinks, or drink leftover drinks,
- if you go on a date with someone you do not know, tell a friend or relative where you will be and what time you will be back, and
- try to drink from a bottle rather than a glass when possible, as it is more difficult to spike a drink in a bottle.
(NHS Direct, Health Encyclopedia)
Hope this helps, keep safe guys
‘SisVic’
