Police hindered over date rape drug use
A Christchurch woman is afraid to return to the city after dark after her drink was potentially spiked with a common date rape drug.
Taylar Saunders, 22, was enjoying a night out with friends at Baretta Bar & Restaurant on St Asaph St when she began feeling drowsy and ‘‘out of it’’.
She knew something was wrong, so left the bar to head home. ‘‘It was awful. I kept thinking ‘I can’t be this drunk. I’ve only had a couple of drinks’.’’
Saunders did not remember the taxi ride home and woke up the next morning feeling confused. ‘‘It didn’t feel like a normal hangover. Everything about it was wrong.’’
Saunders went to a medical centre where she was told it was possible her drink had been spiked with the common date rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB).
Dr Tim Ford said Saunders symptoms lined up with those expected from a drink-spiking incident.
He said he could not confirm the incident took place with blood tests because agents like GHB left the bloodstream after 12 hours, so were extremely difficult to detect.
Saunders said she was shocked by the incident and angry the perpetrator had gotten away with it.
‘‘Something really bad could have happened.’’
Several of her friends had endured similar experiences in recent months, she said.
She informed police about the incident, but they could not proceed with an investigation because there was no blood test proving she was drugged.
Baretta co-owner Simon Scarlett said he was shocked to hear of the incident.
‘‘We take this kind of thing very seriously. We had a staff meeting and have spoken to staff about what behaviours they need to be aware of. We are very vigilant about this kind of thing.’’
Staff were reviewing CCTV footage in the hope it would shed some light on what happened.
NZ Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said GHB was used as a date rape drug because when mixed with a drink it was difficult for a victim to detect by sight or smell. High doses of GHB could induce a sleep-like coma, making the victim unconscious and very vulnerable to sexual assault.
Bell said the extent to which GHB was used as a date rape drug was unknown, largely due to the short life of the drug in the body.
Christchurch police alcohol prevention leader Senior Sergeant Gordon Spite said drink spiking was something police were always concerned about, but it was not a major problem in the city.
‘‘It’s not something we get a huge number of reports about but it does happen and a lot of cases probably go undetected.’’
Spite advised people to watch their drinks carefully and be aware if a friend started behaving strangely.