It feels like...

[venta]

OK, yes, that was just a facetious entry because I suddenly found the phrase "straw poll" funny this morning. However, it has just reminded me of something I did want to ask about.

How many of you have ever heard of a "spikey" ? As in a small plastic thingy which might be given out free in pubs ?

This website explains what a spikey is. Have you seen these anywhere ?

I was shown one at the weekend by someone who'd picked it up in a bar in Preston - a huge bucket of them apparently stood on the bar, inviting people to help themselves. He questioned the bar staff as to what on earth they were (a small, plastic plug you put into the top of a bottle, with a hole for a straw, which prevents anyone dropping anything into your drink). When he later handed it to me to invite me to guess what it was, I failed utterly.

Stuart asked, in surprise, if this was really necessary, was drink-spiking so prevalent that it needed this kind of precaution ? Yes, apparently. "Everyone" in Preston knows someone to whom it's happened.

Now, I'm a bit sceptical - I'm prepared to believe there's a perceived threat, but is it really so widespread ? Richard, who lives in Wakefield, confirmed to me that it is apparently rife there, too, with many cases reported.

Are you aware of it being a particular threat in your area ? I mean yes, it's a risk, and it pays to keep an eye on your drink and make sure that someone will notice if you're acting funny or disappear. But the idea that a plastic stopper is necessary to stop someone dropping Rohypnol into your beer is a new one on me.

I'm also told that the reason bottled drinks are so popular these days is that they're harder to spike. Have I been living with my head in a bucket and missing all this ?

Should Pintwatch start campaigning for pint-glass-sized coloured stoppers ? Preferably with a hot-coffee-style sipping mechanism. Not a straw. Blech.

Comments

[neilh.livejournal.com]

It is, from what I understand, quite common at Slimelight, or was around two years ago - it might have calmed down a little now. However that might just have been bad cuts on the pills, you can't really tell, can you?

And I had a *very weird* time at Infest one year, which I can only attribute to some stray speed, no idea how that could have happened, everyone around me knows I don't indulge, and knows better than to try anything like that...

[zotz]

It's very difficult to tell. A small number of cases can have their stories circulated until it's hard to say how often it has happened. If I go by the number of people I've been around that it's happened to, then I'd say it's very rare. If I believe what I read in the papers, then it happens to most people most weeks. Presumably the truth's in between somewhere, but I don't know even vaguely which end it's close to.

[venta.livejournal.com]

And I had a *very weird* time at Infest one year, which I can only attribute to some stray speed

That presumably wouldn't be dissolvable in a drink, though ? (I dunno, I've never tried, I just don't think it would for some reason).

It's a fair point that in clubs (or whatever) where a lot of people are taking drugs anyway it's difficult to know how much might be down to people taking "bad" drugs, or bad combinations, themselves or just reacting unusually.

[triskellian]

Speed is indeed dissolvable in a drink.

[zotz]

Wouldn't it taste fucking foul, though? Most amines have a very strong and unpleasant taste. It's a well-known problem with giving people pills medically.

[triskellian]

I've only tried it once, a long time ago, and it was quite a small amount of speed (powder, not pill, if that makes any difference) dissolved in quite a large amount of a drink I don't particularly like (2 litre bottle of coke). I don't recall noticing the taste of the speed.

[neilh.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, I'm not a user, I don't really want to get to understand it that any more than I do already and there are, I'm sure, plenty of potential vectors.

[diffrentcolours]

I'm pretty sure I had my drink spiked at Slimelight, many moons ago now. I certainly didn't have enough alcohol to explain what happened, nor knowingly ingested anything else.