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AN INFORMATION CAMPAIGN to raise awareness among young people of the risk of spiking is to be launched, according to Further Education Minister Simon Harris.
Speaking to reporters today, he said he spoke to the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) yesterday about the issue.
“It is a major worry for students and they discussed that with me yesterday and what we have agreed to do is to work together… to put in place an information campaign,” he said.
It was pointed out to the minister that young women are particularly at risk, but he added that anybody is at risk of being spiked “in let’s call it the traditional fashion” by a person’s drink being spiked.
“But there’s also now a growing and very worrying phenomenon around spiked by needle,” he said.
“I think the UK has seen quite a few cases of it now and it’s very much beginning to take hold here,” he said. There is lot of new information emerging about that all the time, he said.
It is reported today that there have been 120 incidents of drinks being spiked reported to police in Northern Ireland so far this year.
Last month, reports of drink spiking were received in Derry, while Scottish police investigate reports of spiking by injection.
However, gardaí have not confirmed any injection spiking cases in Ireland.
In response to a query from The Journal about injection spiking, the Garda press office said:
“An Garda Síochána has recorded a small number of incidents specifically of a ‘date rape drug’ nature to date in 2021.
“Separately, the presence of a ‘date rape drug’ could form part of the narrative of a substantive incident, such as assault, and be an aggravating factor.
“This office is not in a position to provide any further specific details without further detailed analysis. An Garda Síochána would advise any victims of similar incidents or any form of ‘drug spiking’ to come forward and report such incidents to local Gardaí.
“Any incident of this type of crime (assault/ sexual assault) including those with evidence to suggest a link with ‘spiking’ will be investigated by either local Gardaí supported by or attached to Divisional Proactive Services Units.
“Details of how to report can be found on our website Garda.ie.”
Harris said he will be speaking to the Minister of Justice Helen McEntee about the issue in the coming days. The awareness campaign for students is likely to be launched in the next couple of weeks.
With additional reporting by Garreth MacNamee
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This story originated from Scotland a few days later it was reported happening here.Im sorry I think this is slack journalism.Soon as these stories appear in the papers few days later you will always get a couple of social media stories of women waking up with nicks on their arm not remembering what happened the night before.Dont get me wrong totally possible but highly skeptical of people carrying some type of syringe jabbing people in night clubs and on top of that no single arrest or cctv footage I have seen from any of this latest that the media has jumped on and our own Simon Harris has an awareness campaign already.one step ahead of the hysteria our fellas.
@Brian Burns: Has happened here already and reported last couple of weeks.
@Daniel Roche: total hysteria. Do you know how hard it is to inject someone sitting still and with their consent don’t mind trying to do it in a flash and in a dark nightclub. Think.
@JustBEERbarry: it’s not really hard at all, hence why it’s growing in popularity as a method of spiking
@John Black: It is extremely difficult . Few drugs would be able to be injected like this using a needle the technical and medical knowledge required to perform injection spiking would make this deeply improbable. It is at the level of a state-sponsored actor incapacitating a dissident, like the Novichok incident.
Adam Winstock, director of the Global Drug Survey, explains that ‘there are very few easily accessible drugs / medicines that could be given intramuscularly in a small enough volume that people would not notice.
It is time to put a stop to this hysterical nonsense
@John Black: if you got a vaccine recently, do you remember the feeling of being injected? THAT’S an injection, not a tiny swift little jab by a silent highly skilled medically trained assassin type in a dark loud room. Come on.
Has there been an medically documented cases of so called spiking by syringe ? . I’m just trying to picture the scene of a lad walking around a bar or club with a decent size needle as would be required to penetrate clothing and not break or bend ? . Unless a bunch of medical personal are running amok it doesn’t sound plausible .
@Airwave81: yes there has, people have gone to A&E in Ireland and the UK.
The needle doesn’t have to be that big because as I’m sure you’re aware, people don’t dance in a nightclub in big thick clothing, most have bare arms at the very least if not more.
The NHS has released information in what to do if it happens to you because it’s got so bad (I would like to say the HSE but they would always be a bit slow)
So it’s quite plausible and does happen
@Airwave81: Well, All im saying is the vaccinators aren’t as busy anymore
@John Black: Gullible fools and sensationalist journalism give this nonsense credibility .
Drunks waking up with scratches and juices and a hazy memory of the night before is as a result of drinking too much not “spiking” or injections.
Indulging moral panics like this does women’s freedom no favours. It just spreads needless fear.
@Dan Ryan: you got it dan
@Dan Ryan: spreads needless fear? So if we pretend the issue isn’t there and allow it to happen more and more often that will totally get rid of woman’s fears.
Yes, that’s a very smart response, have you ever thought about running for government?
Is buying someone as many vodka and cokes as it takes to for them to say “jezzz I can’t remember last night” considered spiking? Just curious
@Cullen Cullen: no
@Cullen Cullen: provided they’re knowingly drinking it and you haven’t put alcohol into a non alcoholic drink
It is the constant refrain of drunken middle class kids that they were “spiked”.
Very difficult to know which Bacardi Breezer was “Spiked ” . The 7th , 12th or the 15th ?
@Dan Ryan: It is real. I was there when it happened to someone I am close to (a pill in her one single drink probably). Very scary.
@John Moran:” Probably” !
I think it rather weakens your point
A&E people hear this all the time, but only in a vanishingly small number of cases does toxicology actually find that they have unwittingly been given a drug they did not know about.
Didn’t the rape crisis centre come out a few years ago and say there has never been a case proven in Ireland and alcohol is normally the factor?
Doc on Pat Kenny said there hasn’t been a reported case and unlikely to have occurred as the needle would need to enter a vein. Stabbing fat tissue or muscle will not have the desired effect of the perpetrator
@John Barry: it’s complete hysteria by young wans.
A few years back there was hysteria over a online game called “blue whale challenge”. All papers and online news outlets covered this (since deleted here). PSNI, Guards and frantic parents were advising bemused children not to participate in this game. Turned out it was all a big hoax, the game never existed. Now I’m not saying that this spiking with needles isn’t possible, but it doesn’t make any sense. It’s impractical, it needs almost surgical precision, it exposes the assailant to the risk of being caught easily. If someone is of the mindset that they wish to spike or harm another, it’s usually done in the simplest way. Just my 2 cents.
Biggest load of bull
Satanic panic stuff.
I see a lot of judgement in this thread. Do people know how difficult it is to prove your drink has been spiked? Unless a person gets so sick they have to be rushed to A&E immediately, the chances they will receive a blood test a few hours after a night out (which is likely weekend) are close to none. That’s why perpetrators do it in the first place. Even victims might take a long time before they understand their drink might have been spiked, as the spiking is especially designed to make people confused and struggling to remember. Ketamine is an anaesthetic right? How many people remember or understood what happened during a surgery while being anaestesized?
@Daniela Monza: It is difficult to prove something that is extremely unlikely to have happened.
Who is ” especially ” designing these spiking drugs ? Do you have any evidence for this assertion?
People get confused and struggle to remember as a result of drinking too much alcohol.
Your reference to surgery is totally irrelevant as people consent to be anaesthesed by medical professionals .
Sensational journalists and gullible eejits should stop perpetuating this ridiculous panic .
have your say