A video released recently revealed just how easy it is for someone to drug your drink in a bar.
In the eye-opening video, popular online presenter Joey Salads goes out to a bar with hidden cameras to test and record just how easy it is to slip what has become known as the “date rape” drug Rohypnol, otherwise known as “roofies” into a drink.
Increasingly, Rohypnol is being used to enhance the effect of alcohol to make a person feel intoxicated very quickly.
Women who have been drugged with it and then raped often report amnesia and/or loss of consciousness so they are unaware of what is happening.
The effect can begin 10 minutes after ingestion and usually last between 8 to 24 hours. Another drug, GHB, with a similar effect, can also be used.
“This horrifying social experiment proves that it’s simpler than you think to become a potential victim of date rape,” warns Robyn Farrell, Executive Head of 1st for Women Insurance.
“A common modus operandi is for a man to distract a woman while talking to her or to drug her drink while she is in the bathroom. Remember that this could be someone you are on a date with, or a complete stranger and even the bartender. You may not even taste it once it is in your drink because alcohol may blunt the taste of the drug,” says Farrell.
- Never leave your drink unattended in a restaurant or in a bar.
- If you are offered a drink by somebody you have only just met or barely know, stay at the bar as the drink is ordered and served.
- Hold your drink in your hand and do not place it down on a table or counter until it is finished.
- Hold your drink on the top. If you get a glass drink, hold it in such a way that your hand covers the top of the glass. Holding it with your palm over the top instead of against the side of the drink will make it harder for anyone to slip anything in without you noticing.
- Opt for unopened bottled drinks or cans over glass drinks.
- Avoid drinking to the point where you cannot be vigilant or aware of your surroundings and keep all your wits about you.
- Trust your instincts if something or someone does not feel right.
- If you feel faint, dizzy, nauseous, weak or exceptionally drunk after not drinking very much while out at a bar or restaurant, leave immediately or call a friend or an ambulance.
- Look for obvious signs of tampering. Things such as your drink being moved from where you left it, the straw having been taken out or one put in, less or more liquid than you remember, odd bubbling or fizzing, a different colour or odour, etc.
- Consider going out in groups or with friends if you are going out to bar or even double dating when you do not know someone particularly well. Then, look out for each other.
Submitted by 1st For Women Insurance
