Halifax CSA has launched a new initiative aimed at countering drink spiking in night-clubs across York.
The scheme, piloted in Kuda on Tuesday 28th January, entailed placing cocktail umbrellas in unattended drinks to raise awareness of the risk of spiking.
Loussin Pilikian, Halifax CSA President said of the scheme: “Recently there has been an outbreak in reports of drink spiking and…the number of reports to YUSU has increased.
“We thought during refreshers week constructing a weeks campaign like this would raise the awareness of this issue and highlight the importance of making sure young adults are having a good time but looking after themselves also.”
The scheme has also involved CSA members present with drug-detecting kits analysing unattended drinks to identify whether they had been spiked or not.
Jessica Smith, Vice-President for Welfare, elaborated: “Spiking is something that can have incredibly serious consequences but can be prevented, or at least the risk reduced, by making people more aware of the importance of not leaving your drink unattended.
“By encouraging people to come to us to have their drinks checked, I would also like to encourage people to report any incidences that do occur and not shrug them off as unimportant.”