In this week's King's Speech, the Government plans to propose a law that will designate spiking as a distinct criminal offence.
It is anticipated to be a part of about 35 bills in the Wednesday (July 17) programming announcement.
There are already laws that make spiking illegal, such as the 1861 Offences against the Person Act.However, both the Conservative and Labour manifestos stated that establishing a new, distinct offence would improve police response to instances.
What is spiking?
According to the UK police website, the act of injecting drugs or alcohol into another person's body or drink without that person's knowledge or consent is known as spiking.
There are a number of symptoms to watch out for if you believe that you or a companion has been spiked, such as dizziness or poor co-ordination, nausea or vomiting, hallucinations and paranoia, loss of proper communication and unconsciousness.
Call an ambulance if symptoms get worse, and if you think there may have been a sexual assault go to your nearest sexual assault referral centre for specialist care and support.
There are a few ways to reduce the risk of spiking such as only accepting drinks from people you know and trust, not leaving your drink unattended and being wary if people are reaching over your drinks.
In the year ending in April 2023, 6,732 allegations of spiking – including needle spiking – were received by police in England and Wales.
After quadrupling in recent years, the Met police reported that reports of drink spiking rose 13 per cent between July and December 2023 compared to the same time in 2022.In 2023, the force was notified of 1,383 claims of doping. Most of these incidents occur in public spaces, mainly nightclubs and pubs.
Daisy Maskell got spiked on purpose to show dangers
Kiss FM breakfast host Daisy Maskell recently got spiked on purpose to show how dangerous it could be in a Channel 4 documentary.
The 24-year-old wanted to do her part to raise awareness of the situation after hearing numerous frightening tales of people who had been drugged on a night out.
With cameras recording the aftermath, Maskell had her drink poisoned while being closely supervised by University of Exeter psychedelic drug expert Professor Celia Morgan.
Maskell was still shocked by how quickly the effects started even though she had only used a small amount of the drug and there was no alcohol added to the drink.
She said: "The first symptom was my jaw locking up and it was so quick. It was within a few minutes of having the drink that my speech started to slur and after that, I began to almost disassociate from the environment I was in.
"I could hear words coming out of my mouth, but it was almost like a delay hearing them. I didn’t feel very present – I felt very withdrawn and locked in."
In the documentary, Maskell also meets victims of spiking – all of whom have not had their attacker prosecuted – as well as senior police officers who discuss how their force is concentrating on prevention. The documentary features a barrister, who makes a strong case for the introduction of legislation that would make spiking illegal.
