Watch out for Spiked drinks
The Boston Police Department is warning St. Patrick’s Day partiers to be wary of drug-spiked alcoholic drinks during the festivities.
“While the BPD encourages everyone to look out for each other when gathered in social settings by creating a ‘buddy system’ to prevent getting separated, there are steps you can take on your own to help ensure your personal safety,” the department wrote in a statement.
The threat are the “scentless, colorless, and tasteless” drugs for “date-rape” or “drug-facilitated sexual assault.”
A seminal study on the phenomenon by the National
Criminal Justice Reference Service found that in 2007, 2.3% of women in the U.S. reported being raped this way after involuntary use of the drugs and even more, 2.8%, reported being raped after voluntary use.
Most any drug — especially sleep aids and tranquilizers — could do the trick of making a “potential victim vulnerable to the intentions of the suspect,” but the usage here usually refers to party drugs, like Rohypnol, GHB and ketamine being secreted into a target’s drink.
Authorities recommend taking a proactive approach to monitoring one’s drink, from the moment it’s in their possession — which should be directly from a bartender or server — to its last drop.
Don’t ignore your drink and keep it covered up, perhaps with a hand, when you’re not watching it and even feel free to take it to the bathroom with you. Special test strips, and even new nail polish designed to work the same way, can be used to indicate if your drink has any drugs in it.
But don’t go it alone, authorities recommend. Talk it over with your friends and make sure they’re watching out for you and you’re watching out for them.