Residents of West Hollywood are being given free drink spiking kits by local nightclubs and bars in an attempt to tackle the issue of spiked drinks, a crime disproportionately experienced by women.
Earlier this week, volunteers and politicians distributed the kits to over 200 entertainment businesses across the West Hollywood region, ten months after its City Council passed an ordinance that requires bartenders and waiters in nightclubs to undergo bystander intervention training.
The kits contain stripes that resemble pH level testers, and when dipped into a drink, show whether a drink was spiked with drugs like flunitrazepam, ketamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid.
The drugs can resemble pills, liquid or powders, while void of colour, odour or taste when it is added to a drink or food. Its combination with alcohol can heighten the effects of the drugs, compromising a victim’s decision-making skills and judgement.
West Hollywood City Council will convene a Study Session on Nighttime Safety on Monday, August 22 at 6 PM.
You're encouraged to attend! Find out more: https://t.co/Q9vSr5uWFY pic.twitter.com/Qm2k6H86eV— City of West Hollywood (@WeHoCity) August 19, 2022
In the US, up to 11 million women were sexually assaulted while drunk, drugged or high between a two-year period.
On Monday night, the city council held a meeting to discuss the program and its main goals of improving nighttime public safety. Members of the public who have been victims of drink spiking gave their testimonies inside City Hall.
Shane Ivan Nash, chair of the Transgender Advisory Board of West Hollywood, detailed an assault he survived eight months ago in a bar in West Hollywood.
“I think it would have made a huge difference in my case,” Nash said. “If I had known I had that resource in my jacket pocket and I was feeling a little weird? I would have been able to at least test my drink.”
Keely Field, the Vice-Chair of West Hollywood Women’s Advisory Board, opened up about the prevalence of drink spiking.
“This is not just something that happened to me,” she said. “This is something that happens every night, not just in West Hollywood.”
“If someone could take their pinky and see what’s in their drink by literally putting it in from their straw, put on a card, see if there’s GHB or ketamine or even ground up horse tranquilliser pills in my case, they won’t continue to drink the drink, be assaulted later and left on the floor.”
The City Council said it plans to release more test kits in the near future, encouraging private and public organisations to contribute funding to the program.