Spiked drinks fear
By CARLY CRAWFORD
25sep05

A SINISTER trend in drink spiking is sweeping Melbourne nightclubs, with about 30 people a week falling victim.

Prank spikers are prowling clubs and dropping dangerous substances into the drinks of people they do not know, for the fun of watching them collapse.

Doctors at the Alfred Hospital are treating up to 30 admissions related to drink spiking each week.
Some victims' wallets and mobile phones have been stolen.

The recent spate of spikings came to light after a young woman's experience in Prahran early this month.
Emma, 20, had been drinking with friends in a Greville St club when some time after 1am she woke to find herself in the back of an ambulance.

She remembered leaving her friends, and her handbag, in the club and strolling down the street.
She woke up bewildered and with a bad bruise on her head. Her parents had been alerted and met her at the Alfred Hospital. "Mum said I kept commenting about a metallic taste in my mouth," Emma said.
"I kept trying to climb out of the bed and trying to rip the heart monitors from my body."

Doctors told her parents they were seeing between 20 and 30 admissions related to suspected drink spiking each week.

GBH, or grievous bodily harm, and ketamine are among the drugs known to be used in drink spiking.
The Alfred Hospital this week refused to comment on the problem, saying it did not keep formal records of admissions related to suspected drink spiking.

But one emergency department doctor said spiking was on the rise.

"We've seen many more cases this year than ever before and now we're getting about 30 a week," the doctor said.