{"id":472,"date":"2022-09-30T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/?p=472"},"modified":"2022-09-30T10:35:37","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T10:35:37","slug":"needle-spiking-the-newest-form-of-drug-abuse-at-nightclubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/?p=472","title":{"rendered":"Needle Spiking: The Newest Form of Drug Abuse at Nightclubs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recently, a new form of date-rape drug has arrived to the Spanish nightclub scene: \u201cneedle spiking.\u201d Different regions in Spain, including Andalucia and Aragon, have noticed a surge in reports from women who believe they were drugged, after having suffered from memory loss and discovering bruises that indicate some sort of injection. More than 50 cases have been reported across Spain, with growing numbers in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK. More than 1,300 reports of needle spiking have been made to UK police forces in less than six months according to The Guardian<\/a>. Spanish police have not linked sexual assault or robbery to any drugging reports in Spain, Although forces in the UK have been made aware of at least 14 secondary offenses such as sexual assault or theft potentially linked to the injections.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such report came from a 13-year-old girl in the northern Spanish city of Gij\u00f3n, whom, after feeling a prick in her arm, told her parents, who promptly rushed her to the hospital. Tests revealed that the 13-year-old girl had traces of a party drug \u201cecstasy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple cases such as this one were reported to authorities across Spain, with victims describing dizziness and loss of consciousness immediately after feeling a sharp prick. At least 20 out of the 50 cases were reported in Catalunya. Just in July, two women were reported to be injected in the arm and thigh (respectively) in the Barcelona nightclub, Les Enfants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police investigations in Spain have not yet been able to determine the drug used. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, after analyzing  100 toxicology samples, the UK Metropolitan Police have found \u201ca small number of positive suspected spiking incidents.\u201d Apart from the 30% of samples that were found to contain controlled drugs, 3 samples held non-prescribed or self-administered drugs including sedating antihistamine diphenhydramine, chemicals found in magic mushrooms and GHB<\/a>; a liquid that is difficult to inject. Police reported, \u201cAs the puncture itself is not a crime, it is essential that victims provide a toxicological analysis to help clarify the motivations of this new practice.\u201d The police advise  women (or anybody, for that matter) who believe they have been drugged to seek medical attention and immediate drug testing to identify the drug before it disappears in the blood. Not to mention, victims face the possibility of contracting HIV or hepatitis infection due to an unsanitary needle. Hospitals and police are aware of the sensitivity of this issue and do not want to spread panic or generalized alarm around nightclubs, however this  makes it difficult to launch a statement regarding this new practice. A police spokesperson explained \u201cofficers want to be very rigorous in order not to create a climate of terror<\/a>,\u201d regarding the recent injections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasing awareness of these incidents is crucial for the safety of clubgoers. If this type of violation continues it could potentially spread outside of nightclubs to other crowded places including public transit stops and touristic areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Additional sources<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ara in English. \u201cPolice Confirm Six Complaints in Catalonia for Needle Spiking in Nightclubs.\u201d Ara in English<\/em>, Ara in English, 26 July 2022, https:\/\/en.ara.cat\/society\/needle-spiking-six-complaints-catalonia-police-confirm_1_4446057.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor, Online News. \u201cSurge in Needle Spiking in Spain Nightclubs Raises Alarm – La Prensa Latina Media.\u201d La Prensa Latina Bilingual Media<\/em>, 5 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.laprensalatina.com\/surge-in-needle-spiking-in-spain-nightclubs-raises-alarm\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinojosa, Jorge. \u201cPolice Investigate Spate of ‘Needle Spike’ Attacks on Women in Clubs across Spain.\u201d Olive Press News Spain<\/em>, 4 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.theolivepress.es\/spain-news\/2022\/08\/04\/police-investigate-spate-of-needle-spike-attacks-on-women-in-clubs-across-spain\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNeedle Spiking Reports to UK Police Exceed 1,300 in Six Months.\u201d The Guardian<\/em>, Guardian News and Media, 26 Jan. 2022, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2022\/jan\/26\/needle-spiking-reports-to-uk-police-exceed-1300-in-six-months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RS, Guillem. \u201cMap: Needle Spiking in Catalonia’s Dance Clubs: Where Have Cases Been Reported?\u201d In English<\/em>, In English, 1 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.elnacional.cat\/en\/news\/map-needle-spiking-catalonia-dance-clubs_795798_102.html. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, a new form of date-rape drug has arrived to the Spanish nightclub scene: \u201cneedle spiking.\u201d Different regions in Spain, including Andalucia and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":484,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions\/484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}