CREDIT: KERRA SEAY
Spiking drinks with drugs is still a problem, as one Fanshawe student experienced for herself.

When Dan Stranges saw his close female friend acting bizarre at a house party they attended at the end of January, he immediately knew something was wrong.

The woman, a student at Fanshawe who prefers to remain anonymous, was unable to move, talk or even complete a simple sentence. She was also vomiting and was coming in and out of consciousness.

But she doesn’t actually remember any of this.

Stranges believes that his friend had her drink spiked with drugs. This is the second time since September that his same friend has displayed symptoms that led others to believe she had been drugged, but the second time was much worse.

“I remember going to the party. I probably had a couple of sips from people’s drinks that they offered, and then I don’t remember a whole chunk of the night,” she said.

Stranges can remember a lot more about the night than his friend.

“I had to carry her, and her neck was going limp, her arms were limp, her body was not responding,” Stranges said.

The woman said she goes out fairly often and has an understanding of how her body reacts to alcohol. That night she had consumed three shots before going to the house party where she then had a few sips from some drinks.

“Normally for me to get drunk I have to drink a lot, I remember everything, and I’m fine,” she said. “I only had a couple of drinks and I was acting like I should have been hospitalized. It just didn’t add up.”

This is a typical reaction to a drug called gamma-hydroxybutrate (GHB), more commonly known as the ‘date rape drug’. According to a Government of Canada website, the drug is also referred to as liquid ecstasy, G, grievous bodily harm, scoop and easy lay.

The drug can be easily slipped into a drink where it then dissolves and becomes odourless, colourless and tasteless, making it almost impossible to uncover. The drug is a depressant, and the sedative effects often leads to a sexual assault because it makes it difficult for a potential victim to resist an attack.

The main effects of the drug are drowsiness, euphoria, dizziness, lack of inhibition as well as short term memory loss. Some physical effects include nausea, loss of co-ordination, slowed breathing and loss of consciousness.

Stranges said he witnessed his friend experiencing many of these symptoms. Though he admits to initially hesitating, he called the paramedics to make sure she was okay out of fear for her safety.

“You don’t want to let [something like this] pass by,” Stranges said.

“If they weren’t there I have no idea what could have happened. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about that. I’m so happy that they were there,” she said about her friends. “The only reason I’m not too broken up about it is because I had my friends there to take care of me.”

Leah Marshall, the sexual violence prevention advisor at Fanshawe, has been organizing awareness campaigns in order to change our culture from a culture that promotes sexual violence to a culture of consent. She said every situation is different but she hopes that by educating students and staff about how to appropriately handle a situation where sexual violence could occur, bystanders are taking charge and changing our society.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a distraction or a call for help to paramedics, campus security or to another friend to help get this person out of the situation, the underlying foundational message is that we all have a role to play in supporting each other,” Marshall said. “It’s really powerful that we see students standing up for each other and bringing in the bystander.”

Spiking someone’s drink is a serious offence that can lead to criminal charges. According to Canadian Criminal Law, “Everyone who administers or causes to be administered to any person or causes any person to take poison or any other destructive or noxious thing is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years, if he intends thereby to endanger the life of or to cause bodily harm to that person; or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, if he intends thereby to aggrieve or annoy that person.”

Special const. Luke Edwards from Fanshawe Security said that this is such a serious offence that it exceeds the legal limitations of Fanshawe Security.

“If something like this were to be reported to Fanshawe Security, we are mandated to report it to the London Police Service,” Edwards said. “They would perform a thorough investigation and the results of that may be criminal charges.”

Edwards emphasized that Fanshawe Security would assist in any ensuing police investigation.

Though Stranges’ friend was not harmed, he is still upset about the situation, but warns that whoever is doing this needs to stop.

“It pisses me off to think that someone would actually do that, it’s ridiculous,” Stranges said. “This is just a whole new extreme. I just hope that whoever’s doing this, they know that people know that this is actually being talked about.”

If you suspect that you or someone you know have been drugged please contact 911 or call campus security at 519-452-4242. If you have experienced sexual violence please contact Leah Marshall at Counselling and Accessibility Services at 519 452 4282 or in F2010.