The Sunshine Coast has recorded three alleged drink spiking occurrences over the weekend of 10-11 December.
Drink spiking is adding alcohol or other drug to someone’s drink without their knowledge or consent.
Sunshine Coast police are urging the community to be aware of their surroundings when ordering and drinking alcohol in pubs and clubs.
According to the Queensland Police Drugs and Alcohol Unit, the most common drug used in drink spiking is alcohol. Alcohol may not be noticeable or detected.
What you can do:
-Consider a practice of no more than two standard drinks in one glass.
-Do not leave your drink unattended.
-Always buy your own drinks.
-Don’t drink or taste any else’s drink.
-Don’t accept drinks from strangers.
-Throw your drink away if you taste something strange.
-If you start to feel strange, sick, or more drunk than you should be then seek assistance with a friend or venue staff.
What businesses can do:
Remember you have a legal obligation to provide a safe environment for patrons and staff.
-Have staff monitor any patron or group of patrons indulging in multiple shots of drinks.
-Have bar staff be vigilant of unattended glasses.
-Effectively addressing any drug issue in your venue will play an important role in meeting this obligation.
-Consider signage such as police will be contacted if anyone is found in possession of illicit drugs or weapons and this behaviour will not be tolerated.
-Act quickly to evict and ban people involved in this behaviour.
-Make regular check on toilets, car parks and surrounding gardens.
-Keep all these facilities clean and well maintained.
-Consider having an attendant in or around toilets to discourage unacceptable crowding of people.
-Drink spiking is an offence under section 316A Unlawful Drink Spiking in the Criminal Code (1899).
A person who administers, or attempts to administer, in drink a substance to another person without the other person having knowledge of the substance with intent to cause the other person to be stupefied and overpowered is guilty of a crime and is liable to imprisonment for five years.
