Drink spiking

What is drink spiking?

Drink spiking is when alcohol or another drug is added to your drink without you knowing. This results in you becoming drunk or drug affected unexpectedly. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks can be spiked, and it can happen at clubs, bars and at parties. Spiked drinks are also called being ‘slipped a mickey’.

What are the effects of drink spiking?

The effects of drink spiking depend on a number of things, including your size, weight and the amount or combination of the drugs used. You can become unconscious, unable to defend yourself, or unable to remember what happened. People may spike your drink as a prank or with the intent to assault, rob or sexually assault you.

What drugs are used in spiking?

Alcohol

Alcohol is the most common drug used in drink spiking. It may be done either by having alcohol added to non-alcoholic drinks or adding shots of spirits to alcoholic drinks to make your drink much stronger than you think. Don’t assume that you can always taste the alcohol in your drinks. If your drink is sweet or has strong flavours the taste of alcohol can be masked.

Depressant drugs

Depressant drugs, especially sedatives can be used to spike drinks. These drugs are usually used to relax the body or help people sleep. Combined with alcohol they can have very strong effects. This may result in you feeling very drunk and mean that you can’t remember some or all events that took place after you were drugged.

The drug’s effects can start within 15 to 30 minutes, and can last up to 8 hours or longer, depending on the amount used and how much alcohol you have drunk. Effects include feeling sleepy, dizzy or drowsy, loss of motor skills, muscle relaxation, slurred speech, memory loss, impaired judgment, loss of inhibition, loss of consciousness, visual problems and nausea.

GHB

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) can cause amnesia, impair movement and speech, and can be added to drinks with no visible trace. GHB is also known as ‘fantasy’, ‘grievous bodily harm' (GBH), liquid ecstasy and ‘liquid E’. It comes as a colourless, odourless, bitter or salty-tasting liquid, or as a crystal powder. GHB has been used medically as a general anaesthetic and to treat sleep disorders. The effects of GHB include hallucinations, extreme drowsiness, vomiting, convulsions or seizures, and unconsciousness or abrupt short-term coma. GHB is a dangerous drug in itself. Mixed with alcohol, the harmful effects are stronger.

How to avoid drink spiking

• Don’t accept drinks from strangers or leave drinks unattended. If someone offers you a drink, go to the bar with them.
• Buy or pour your own drinks and know what you are drinking.
• Don’t drink something you did not open, or see opened or poured.
• If you’re unsure about your drink, leave it.
• If you feel dizzy or sick, ask someone you trust to take you to a safe place. If you are alone or can’t find your friends tell the staff behind the bar or someone you know, if you are at a party.
• Keep an eye on your friends. If someone collapses and is unconscious, call an ambulance immediately—but do not leave them alone.
• If you’re on a date with someone you don’t know arrange for a friend to call you during the evening and/or pick you up. Meet in a public space. Arrange your own transport.

How do I know if my drink has been spiked?

You might not be able to see, smell or taste if you drink has been spiked - the drug may be colourless, odourless and may not affect the taste of your drink

Warning signs include:

• feeling dizzy or faint
• feeling sick or sleepy
• feeling intoxicated or confused even if you have only had a little alcohol to drink
• passing out
• waking up feeling uncomfortable and disorientated, with memory blanks about the night before.

What to do if you think your drink has been spiked

If you think your drink has been spiked, tell a friend, the bar or security staff, or the police. Your doctor can test for the presence of traces of certain drugs through urine or blood tests within 24 hours.

If you think that you have been assaulted or raped, it’s important you tell a friend or family member, and go to a doctor or hospital.

Drink spiking + the law

Drink spiking is illegal. It’s a serious offence to introduce a drug into the body of another person without their knowledge or consent, especially if the person is assaulted as a result.

Mixing drugs + alcohol

Mixing different alcoholic drinks and drugs may increase the speed in which you become drunk and may mean you take more risks.

Mixing alcohol with stimulants can be dangerous. The effects of alcohol may be hidden by the effects of the stimulant which may cause you to feel less drunk than you really are. This may mean you take more risks, and put yourself in danger. For more information about what stimulants are check out the Drugs fact sheet.

Mixing alcohol with other depressant drugs like cannabis may be dangerous as both cause your body reactions to slow down and increase the likelihood of passing out or overdosing.

Drinking too much

Like other drugs the effects of alcohol may vary from person to person. Depending on factors such as how quickly you have been drinking, your age, sex and body weight, and whether the alcohol has been served as greater than a standard drink size, you might underestimate how much alcohol you’ve drunk and how much it’s affected you. Check out the Alcohol fact sheet for more information.

More information

Other things on Reach Out to check out are Reach Out Central (ROC), an interactive online space where you can test run real life situations.

Phone numbers within Australia

NSW Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS) - (02) 9361 8000 or 1800 422 599 in rural and regional NSW.

Directline (Victorian Based)- 1800 888 236

SA ADIS - (08) 8363 8618 or 1300 131 340

WA ADIS - (08) 9442 5000 or 1800 198 024

QLD ADIS - (07) 3837 5989 or 1800 177 833

Tasmanian ADIS - (03) 9416 1818 or 1800 811 994

NT ADIS - 1800 629 683 or Alice Springs (08) 8951 7580 or Darwin (08) 8922 8399

NT Amity House - (08) 8944 6565 or 1800 684 372

ACT ADIS - (02) 6205 4545

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Central Sydney Area Health Service who helped with the development of this factsheet.