Spiking is when someone puts alcohol or drugs into another person’s drink, vape, cigarette, food or their body without their knowledge and/or consent. (Rape Crisis, 2023)

Spiking someone’s drink carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison in the UK. (Sexual Offences Act 2003)

92% of incidents unreported to the police, (Alcohol Education Trust, 2023).

Some estimates are as high as 97% of incidents are unrepo

Methods

The most common method used to spike someone is by drink tampering, 77% of victims that have reported an incident of spiking on our Spike Report have been spiked via drink tampering. In 2021 people first started reporting being spiked by injection, and 20% of victims have been spiked via needle injection.

More recently, people have been victims of spiking from smoking and vaping, and some perpetrators will also use food tampering as a method to spike. It is important to understand that spiking by definition is inserting drugs into another person’s body without their knowledge, therefore lacing vapes with drugs without that person’s knowledge as well as inserting drugs into a roll up cigarette without consent is also spiking. In 2024, there was a reported incident of spiking through chewing gum, highlighting the ever-evolving methods perpetrators may use to target individuals.

What substances do people use?

Common recreational drugs used to spike people are: MDMA, LSD, Ketamine

‘Date rape’ drugs commonly used to spike people are: Rohypnol, GHB, GBL.

A lot of these substances do not have any significant smell or taste in a drink or some food and are therefore hard to identify. The most common substance used to spike someone is alcohol whereby alcohol is added to a non-alcoholic or alcoholic drink without consent.

Based on the evidence we have from Spike Report, we have drawn important data on the motives of spikers.

• Sexual violence (sexual harassment, assault and rape)
• Robbery and theft
• Pranks
• Initiations
• Guinea pig (whereby someone tests the effects of a recreational drug on another before trying themselves)
• Humiliation

At the time:

• Tell the venue you as soon as possible
• Call an ambulance and consider reporting to the police as well.
• Stay with an identified trusted person
• Do not drink copious amounts of water. If a person has certain drugs in their system, too much water can make their hydration regulation systems fail and there is a further risk of harm.

After the event:

• Make sure you have a close support group around you to help you process the incident.
• Remember to never blame yourself. The blame is always 100% with the perpetrator, the only reason that you were spiked is because someone wanted to spike you.
• Go to A&E for medical treatment if not done so already. A&E can test your blood and urine to ensure you receive the correct treatment.
• We encourage everyone to report their spiking to the police as soon as possible. Unfortunately, at this stage our justice system does not accept positive drug tests from hospitals in prosecutions and therefore the Police must test for spiking substances to be used in Court. Drugs used to spike someone can leave the body as quick as 12 hours. It is important that a sample is taken as soon as possible to increase the likelihood of the perpetrator being prosecuted.
• Contact the venue/s you attended that night and ask them to store CCTV and any other evidence in advance of the police investigation.
• Reach out to local agencies and support services, see our support links page for more information.

Typical Symptoms

• feeling dizzy or faint
• confusion and disoriented
• feeling sick or sleepy
• upset
• drunkenness (despite having little alcohol)
• passing out
• hallucination
• paralysis and inability to speak, including locked jaw
• blackout memory
• uncontrollable temperature
• blurred vision
• paranoia

If you need any support after you have gone through trauma then please visit our support links page for more information.

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