This autumn saw a frenzy of reports in the media about people being spiked in bars and nightclubs across the UK.

Stories of clubbers – particularly young women – blacking out and waking up in hospital dominated the headlines, inspiring a host of measures from venues and police forces.

The anxieties of people simply trying to enjoy their nights out were compounded by alarming accounts of revellers being unwittingly spiked with needles.

While there have still been no confirmed cases of this particular method, 274 reports of it were made in England and Wales between September and November 5.

That’s on top of other forms of spiking, such as slipping drugs like GHB and ketamine in people’s drinks.

However, the most common tactic used by predators is right under our noses.

Stats on spiking are murky, as victims don’t always feel empowered to come forward and chances to evidence are often missed, but the overall consensus among experts is that alcohol is by far the drug most commonly used to spike people’s drinks.

Practices like ordering someone a double when they’ve asked for a single, or adding an extra shot to their drink are all too commonplace, but is anything being done to stop it?

After all, providing drug testing kits and stepping up searches at the door do nothing to stop people being spiked with a substance sold freely at the bar.

‘I think we minimise the impact of alcohol, because it is a normalised drug,’ says Harry Sumnall, professor of substance use at Liverpool John Moores University.

‘But it is implicated in many violent crimes, whether that has a sexual motive or not.

‘There have been some interesting studies into why we downplaythis, particularly during the last big focus on drink spiking 10 years ago or so.

‘It seems that people were focusing on the anxieties around drink spiking almost as a reaction to broader concerns around alcohol use – resisting and rejecting the social issue.

He suggests that alcohol was ‘forgotten about’ and was left out of the debate, despite its links to sexual violence.

Dr Amanda Marie Atkinson, another senior researcher at Liverpool John Moores, is leading an investigation into whether the sexualisation of women in venue and brand marketing could be encouraging sexual assault.

Her colleague Professor Sumnall recalls posters on the wall of one Liverpool venue carrying a message which was ‘highly suggestive of getting women drunk so you could pull them’.

This sort of atmosphere makes delivering anti-spiking campaigns an uphill struggle, he suggests.

Professor Sumnall says the ‘elephant in the room’ is that the night-time economy in the UK is so focused on alcohol consumption that it becomes ‘this intoxogenic environment’.

He warns that it’s easy to hide the adding of a shot or pressuring someone to drink more under the guide of ‘youthful socialisation’.

That’s why Adam Waugh, senior health team member at drug harm reduction charity The Loop, says it’s so important for venues to adequately train their staff in spotting the warning signs of predatory behaviour.

He says: ‘If someone’s buying a double and proceeds to pour a shot glass into it, that might be an example of drink spiking happening in front of staff who might not even realise.’

The Loop, which tests drugs and delivers face-to-face interventions at clubs and festivals, also offers a range of training courses for venues, health services and authorities – including on spiking and sexual harassment.

‘Staff are the eyes and ears of the club, they’re often able to identify people who are vulnerable or people who might be behaving in a predatory or inappropriate way,’ says Adam.

While some venues have really made an effort in recent months to stamp out spiking, Adam says the focus only appears to have been made on illegal drugs – particularly searching at the door.

‘The problem with that is that firstly, alcohol is the main drug used in spiking – the main drug involved is freely sold in the premises,’ he says.

‘Secondly, drink spiking and drug facilitated sexual assaults are more about predatory behaviour than they are about a specific drug involved.

‘If you searched someone and you found a diazepam in their pocket, it could be, as it would be in 99% of cases, that the person has it because they are taking it recreationally or they want something to help them sleep at the end of the night.’

Many clubs have come out to say they are searching for needles, but as a result there have been reports of people having their Epipens confiscated.

Research also suggests that excessive searching at the door can have the unintentional consequence of people panicking and swallowing all their drugs in the queue.

Another barrier preventing women who have been sexually assaulting from coming forward is that they’re drunk or on drugs and worry they won’t be believed by staff, Adam adds.

‘They fear that on-site services will turn around and say “you shouldn’t have taken drugs, we’re phoning the police”.’

Venues are forced to operate zero tolerance policies to drugs as part of their licencing conditions, to show that they are abiding by the law and taking action to prevent drug use.

However, Adam says putting up warning signs saying ‘if you’re found with drugs we will phone the police’ – which in practice rarely happens – could easily stop someone speaking up.

Some venues, he says, have been much more proactive in their approach – investing in extra training for staff, as well as quiet safe spaces for victims to use with welfare staff on hand.

Having phone charging facilities in these rooms is helpful, Adam says, as clubbers running out of power and getting separated from friends can leave them vulnerable.

One thing he says needs to stop is bouncers immediately throwing people out for being too drink or high – who may well be spiking victims.

There have been cases of people being thrown out and then freezing to death or dying as a result of a medical emergency.

Another response to spiking reports is the rolling out of kits in nightclubs for people to test their drinks.

Devon and Cornwall Police have been providing these kits to venues, as have Bristol City Council – using funding from a Home Office initiative.

But experts warn it can be difficult to detect drugs in a drink for a host of reasons and question the accuracy of the kits.

‘The Loop or most drug labs would take a while to identify whether or not there was GHB in a glass coke,’ says Adam.

‘It’s not easy to detect drugs in a drink – potentially some benzodiazepine analogues which are potent in less than one milligram doses.

‘So the idea that someone can just take a dab of their drink and put it on a wristband and it’ll say whether or not someone has been spiked – I don’t think there’s enough evidence.

‘Alcohol is the main drug used in spiking, so someone could have alcohol put in their drink and the test result will suggest “yeah, crack on and drink it”.’

Why Metro.co.uk is partnering with the Global Drug Survey

Collecting data on spiking is always pretty shaky, as victims don’t always feel empowered to come forward and opportunities are often missed to collect crucial evidence.

This is one of the reasons why the Global Drug Survey 2022 wants to hear experiences from people who believe they’ve been spiked.

Accounts collected can paint a clearer picture of the problem and this evidence can be used by governments and authorities across the world.

Since 2011, the GDS has tried to ‘make drug use safer regardless of the legal status’ by gaining a better understanding of how people take them.

It aims to promote honest conversations about the ‘good, the bad and the ugly’ of drug use – cutting through the various moral panics and political lines on the issue.

Many anti-spiking testing kits sold online only appear to test for a limited number of drugs – such as GHB or ketamine.

But Adam says that pretty much ‘any drug can be used nefariously’, including MDMA and cocaine.

He warns that ‘real world variations’ such as the drink’s ingredients, how it’s been stored, its temperature, and the volume of liquid can all affect results.

‘No kit that is as basic as a wristband that changes colour is going to be able to accommodate reliably all of that variation,’ says Adam.

He warns that a false negative could give someone who has been spiked a false sense of security, while a false positive could cause a lot of unnecessary concern and police involvement.

‘I think sometimes the manufacturers might say well it’s better to do something than nothing, but it’s important to note that incorrect results can actually be super harmful either way,’ says Adam.

A study published in the Society for the Study of Addiction journal tested two test kits using a range of drugs and types of drinks.

Each kit was tested 10 times for each of a variety of drink/drug combinations. Accuracy varied a lot depending on the drink used, but there were plenty of incorrect results. 

One of the kits couldn’t pick up a dose of GHB in water. Professor Sumnall was one of the researchers of that study and says the kits were ‘pretty much useless’.

He adds: ‘Perhaps these are giving a false sense of security. It could be that the latest kits are fantastic and perfect, but I’ve not actually seen any forensic validation of them.’

A Home Office spokesperson told Metro.co.uk

‘Reports of spiking are extremely disturbing and the police are taking this issue very seriously, with dedicated resource to investigate all reports thoroughly.”

‘Our Safety of Women at Night Fund is investing in projects across the country to help make public spaces safer for women at night including through the trial of drink spiking detection kits and training for night time economy staff to prevent these crimes from taking place.’

Adam points out that there are much more subtle ways predators use illegal substances in order to target someone.

‘I try to refer to it more broadly as drug facilitated sexual assault because drink spiking is a particular thing in people’s minds.

‘But from our experience of what happens at events and having spoken to other welfare organisations, is that the problem is often a lot broader.

‘It might be for example someone telling a woman that they’re giving them a line of cocaine and it turns out to be a line of ketamine and then assaulting them.’

He adds that someone could be invited to a festival tent or secluded part of the club, offered a line of ketamine, take it consensually and then be sexually assaulted.

As well as being able to spot signs of predatory behaviour, Adam says clubs and festivals need to have a ‘clear idea of what to do’ when allegations are made.

‘Sometimes historically people have alleged sexual assault and the venue don’t really do anything about it,’ says Adam.

‘I think one major barrier to people reporting sexual assault in general is that the bouncer might speak to the person who they’ve alleged has assaulted them, and then not throw them out of the club.

‘I’ve been at a festival where someone came to welfare services to allege a sexual assault and it took about half an hour to convince them to report it to the event in order for the person to be removed from the venue because they didn’t believe that the event would actually take it seriously.’

Professor Sumnall points out that actions taken by pubs, clubs and festivals is ‘just one part of the response’.

‘If we’re truly going to start to address gender based and sexual violence, then this is a whole lot more than just drink spiking.

‘We need to look at why so few prosecutions are successful, we need to try and understand why despite that there’s record high levels of sexual violence, particularly towards women but to men as well of course.

‘As part of that of course we can address drink spiking. A cultural shift takes years – that’s a long-term thing, so we can’t just say “that’s too complicated, we shouldn’t do anything”.

‘We need to take that long-term perspective and try and understand how drink spiking fits in with what we’re going to do more broadly around violence, and sexual violence in particular.’

Metro.co.uk has partnered up with the Global Drug Survey to promote honest conversations about the ‘good, the bad and the ugly’ of drug use. Click here to take part anonymously in this year’s survey.

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