# Drink spiking - a reality or urban myth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 27, 2006, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062 "2006-03-27T09:43:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/21 "2006-03-29T14:48:22Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > The most recent time, my friend figured out something was wrong because she felt off her head on just an alcopop (she wasn’t drinking much that evening) - her and others got out of the club and she literally collapsed in the street. Her boyfriend phoned for an ambulance, and she was alright after about a day, but i’d hate to think what would have happened if she’d been out alone, or been drinking more heavily and so less likely to realise something was wrong. Something very similar happened to me a couple of years ago. I’d had two 9oz V&Ts, (I’m usually good for five or six), and I started to feel dizzy. Within a few minutes, I could barely stand. Fortunately, I was only five minutes from home, and when I got there, I promptly vomited, passed out, and had to be put to bed. I woke up in the morning wishing I were dead. Disoriented, nauseated, and with a head that weighed approximately 800lbs. I’d never had a serious hangover before that. I’ve been to that bar many times. I watched the usual bartender pour the usual amount of alcohol into the drinks, which I proceeded to drink at the usual pace. The only thing \*unusual \* about that evening was the vomiting and passing out. I don’t \*know \* that someone put something in my drink, but I’ve always wondered. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/22 "2006-03-29T20:53:36Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > He also pointed out that no-one has ever complained of drink spiking without having drunk enough alcohol to significantly affect their behaviour. Cite? I find it hard to believe that this guy had an exhaustive list of all the cases and what their prior blood alcohol level was. I mentioned above that we’ve had a rash of these lately where I live. One young woman, for example, had just arrived at the bar, having had a single glass of wine beforehand. She drank part of her drink, went to the bathroom, and got extremely sick and disoriented; other patrons thought she was very drunk indeed, but she had had very little. Her friends took her to the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/23 "2006-03-29T21:17:57Z")
I don’t have a formal cite but this has happened to me also. I had less then two drinks one night and promptly blacked out. Fortunately I was with someone that got me home safely. I learned my lesson that night about NEVER leaving a drink unattended in a bar. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/24 "2006-03-29T23:54:10Z")
Some of these stories involve people getting slipped a mickey without actually getting raped or mugged . . . Jeez, are there people who spike drinks at random, just as a prank? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/25 "2006-03-30T00:10:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Some of these stories involve people getting slipped a mickey without actually getting raped or mugged . . . Jeez, are there people who spike drinks at random, just as a prank? :eek: That, or as in my case I happened to have someone there that took care of me. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/26 "2006-03-30T02:00:52Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Some of these stories involve people getting slipped a mickey without actually getting raped or mugged . . . Jeez, are there people who spike drinks at random, just as a prank? :eek: Apparently. At least, that seems to be what’s happening here. Bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/27 "2006-03-30T04:18:28Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > That, or as in my case I happened to have someone there that took care of me. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/28 "2006-03-30T14:08:32Z")
I mean, at least muggers and rapists have a **reason!** But it appears there are some people who will slip drugs into a stranger’s drink just for mischief – and the victim might well try to drive a car, and kill somebody. It’s like that guy back in the '80s who sneaked bottles of poisoned Extra-Strength Tylenol onto the drugstore shelves. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062/29 "2006-03-30T14:24:18Z")
> [@Martini Enfield](#): > > It does happen in Australia, but I suspect a large number of the cases are actually young women who’ve had too much to drink, go home with some guy they wouldn’t normally even look at twice, and realise in the morning that everyone will think they’re a slut or something unless… _OMG Someone spiked my drink!!!_ Also, if you don’t have a very high tolerance (say, if you are a small woman who doesn’t normally drink a lot and skipped dinner) that extra drink might hit you pretty hard if the bartender accidently mixed it a bit strong (which happens). Which is not to say that drink spiking does not happen. A friend of mine said a bar he went to in Miami was just had a number of bartenders arrested because they were spiking girls drinks. And of course there is that case in NYC about that girl who was abducted from some bar and killed. I would say it’s relatively rare in the grand scheme of things, but you should still take certain basic precautions like not accepting drinks from strangers, going to unfamiliar bars by yourself as a woman or leaving drinks unattended. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-spiking-a-reality-or-urban-myth/350062.md?page=1)