By Niya-Ivana Ilcheva | Metro City | March 9, 2022
Cover Illustration: Spiking needles. Diana Polekhina / Unsplash
Amid the recent reopening of nightclubs in the Netherlands, Metro Reporter Niya-Ivana Ilcheva delves into the rising threat of drink/injection-spiking facing clubgoers by presenting the main facts on the situation and further providing safety recommendations.
After the reopening of clubs in late September 2021 in the Netherlands, a large number of people naturally chose to spend their Friday and Saturday nights out on the town. Unsurprisingly, the reopening of nightclubs led to a spike in COVID-19 cases, with clubs becoming infection hotspots.
However, clubs in the Netherlands have seen another threat to public safety: spiking. Spiking is when someone puts alcohol or drugs into someone else’s drinks or body without their knowledge or consent. Many young women, as well as some men, have fallen victim to a spiking epidemic taking Europe by storm. This increase in spiking incidents started in the United Kingdom and quickly gained frequency across Europe and here in the Netherlands. Shortly before a COVID-19 lockdown resulting in the closure of clubs, the Halloween period of 2021 saw numerous cases of spiking reported in Dutch clubs. This worrying trend is undoubtedly causing distress and concern among club-goers about the most recent reopening of clubs.
Although spiking can be conducted in multiple ways, the most prevalent being drink-spiking, recent cases in the Netherlands have occurred by the use of needles. Spikers inject various types of drugs into club-goers including ketamine, various benzodiazepines or GHB. Recent reports have stated that the injection sites include the lower back, arms and legs. A few hours after the substance is injected, victims are said to experience symptoms such as seizures, vomiting and/or a loss of consciousness. In most cases, hospital intervention is required.
Experts recommend that even if hospitalization is not thought to be necessary, spike victims should go to the emergency department as soon as they notice even mild symptoms of spiking or needle wounds. If a needle has been used on multiple spiking victims, infections can occur and medical intervention is advisable.
The Amsterdammer has collaborated with UK-based reporter Joseph Sullivan, writing for The Student in Edinburgh, Scotland, in order to raise awareness about this issue and to provide data related to spiking incidents.
Sullivan’s data indicates that often, a spiking victim is likely to first begin feeling extreme tiredness and exhibit behavior related to extreme drunkenness. The results also indicate that most cases of spiking result in hospitalization, either on the same night of the incident or the morning following the spiking. Whether due to luck, friends or staff watching by, acting quickly, a lack of reporting or a combination of all of these factors, so far, there is no record of a person being physically assaulted following a spiking incident.
A report by UK newspaper The Guardian in late October 2021 claimed that, in the prior two months, 198 incidents of club-spiking were under investigation by UK police. Unfortunately, Dutch media has been less receptive to such incidents leading to a lack of precise data on the matter in the Netherlands.
The spiking incidents have called into question the security measures in place within European nightclubs. In some clubs, scanners similar to those at airports are used in order to detect the potential possession of needles on clubbers. However, it seems that these measures are not always enough to ensure the safety of club-goers.
With many Dutch residents returning to nightclubs, one question stands out: what can people do to stay safe in the face of previously rising nightclub spiking incidents? Visitors are advised to attend nightclubs with groups of friends whom they trust and who look out for each other’s safety. Additionally, clubbers are recommended to limit their alcohol intake in order to remain aware of their surroundings and to report anything suspicious to club staff and security.
In case of a spiking incident, seek medical help immediately, even if symptoms are mild. We can only hope that entertainment establishment owners and staff will do all in their power to provide new measures against this growing worry so that everyone can have fun safely.
This article was written in collaboration with data amassed by The Student reporter Joseph Sullivan (josephsullivanwrites@gmail.com), in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. The research was conducted through in-depth victim interviews, analysis of news interviews, and verified social media statements of alleged victims, as well as studying current and historical literature about injected drugs being used in crime. To read more in-depth about the GHB spiking in Amsterdam specifically, read this piece by a fellow student reporter at PanDam Magazine.
Niya-Ivana Ilcheva is a student at the University of Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
