By Ben Kerrigan-
Home Office minister, Jess Philips,(pictured) has re-iterated the need for University freshers to be vigilant of spiking, as the Met police raises its battle against perpetrators of this crime.
New data released last July bt Counterspike reveals that spiking, and concern about being spiked, is reaching epidemic levels in the UK, with other data showing over 1,400 spiking reports to police forces and widespread underreporting of incidents across the country.
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Drink spiking during freshers week is nothing new, although hits prevalence is not as bad as may be believed. Research suggests that most universities do not experience reported spiking, but it does occur in a small minority of universities.
According to research, 11% of UK adults report being spiked at any point in their lives. with 9% of males report thinking they have ever been a victim of drink spiking and 13% of females
The Eye Of Media.Com heard that this week Cheshire police joined university fresher to raise awareness of this growing problem
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Last week, Hamphshire Constabulary urged freshers at Southampton University to report suspected cases of spiking, having dealth with over 169 reports in the past 12 months.
Ms Phillips said: “As students across the country enjoy Freshers Week, we are determined to tackle the vile crime of spiking.
“That’s why we are funding a national Spiking Intensification Week to raise awareness, support police forces to use innovative tactics, and encourage victims to report this crime.
“We are also working with bars, pubs and clubs to roll out specialist training for staff and introducing a new criminal offence for spiking to bring more perpetrators to justice.”
Ms Phillips added that the Spiking Intensification Week cost the Home Office £100,000 nationally and is “to fund, really specifically, the intensification and the assessment of what schemes work”.
Former Love Island contestant Sharon Gaffka joined the Met officers and Ms Phillips on the operation, and told how she has been campaigning for legislative change after her drink was spiked five years ago.
She said she was having lunch in London with friends when she became unwell and walked to the toilets where she lost consciousness.
Ms Gaffka said she was really glad to see the new testing being used by police, adding: “I got to witness in the briefing room earlier how we’re now updating testing, because spiking has moved along, like I was drink-spiked, but I’m meeting people that are being spiked with needles, being spiked with vapes.
“If we’re not doing anything, it’s going to keep moving faster to the point where we can’t keep up with it. So that’s the kind of changes I was really glad to see today.”
The first track spikes made their appearance around 1850 and began to be sold commercially in the late 1800’s by a man named Joseph Williams Foster, who is famous for beginning the company that eventually became Reebox.
Physical symptoms of spiking includes confusion. nausea or vomiting. hallucinations and paranoia.
disorientation or poor coordination. loss of ability to communicate properly.
memory loss. feeling sick or throwing up. lowered inhibitions.
It’s important to report spiking to us as soon as possible, so a sample that could be used for testing as drugs leave the body within 12 hours or much sooner.
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