How to Stay Safe at Music Festivals: Drink Spiking Prevention Tips
Music festivals and concerts are incredible experiences with lots of great music, good food, and awesome times with friends. Unfortunately, the controlled chaos of such big crowds opens up lots of opportunities for bad actors to take advantage of unsuspecting or distracted people. The most common crimes start with thefts and pickpockets, illegal drug use, to sexual assaults. A subset category of sexual assaults is drug-facilitated assault that is most often done through drink spiking. Awareness is always the best defense against all of these, and some basic actions can be done to mitigate these without taking away from your festival experience.
1. Always keep your drink with you or a trusted friend.
It is significantly harder to spike a drink if it is in your possession. Some people will be very sneaky and able to drop it in quickly but they won’t have the opportunity to push the pill below the ice (if there is ice) or mix it thoroughly so there isn’t a visible cloud, discoloration, layer or intact pill.
2. Watch your drink being made.
Worried that the bartender spiked your drink? It is very unlikely because of video surveillance and because they can’t just leave their job after drugging someone. Nonetheless, it is always wise to watch the “chain of custody” for your beverage. Who knows, if the bartender knows you are watching, they might not be too stingy with the mixers and alcohol.
3. Use Drink Covers
There are numerous fabric drink covers, latex, silicon, and even foil drink covers that can be used to cover drinks. Some bars will put a foil cover on almost all drinks because they are cheap and very easy to use. The main advantage to the foil drink cover ones is that you will know if someone has messed with it because the seal will be broken. For the re-usable ones, they are readily available on Amazon and other websites and cost only a few dollars. The disadvantage is that someone might have the time to lift up a side and put in a drug. Remember, keep your drink with you! Last note on drink covers….most drink covers are visibly branded as “anti-spike” or “drug deterrent”. This can be good and bad at the same time but you can always make a joke about it.
4. Use Spiked Drink Tests
There are drink spike test strips, wristbands, stickers, and rapid tests available to detect for drugs such as Ketamine, Benzodiazepines (Roofies, etc), and GHB although their performance and accuracy varies. Tests that are exposed to liquids, sweat, or high humidity can be ruined because the chemical reaction has already taken place. Trying to use those “used” tests on a beverage will give false negative results. With the exception of the rapid test, the detection rate is usually between 90 and 92%. The new Drink Spike Rapid Test detects all of these drugs including the notoriously difficult to detect GHB at a 99% detection rate. It is more expensive than the strip tests and takes 5 minutes to complete. The only test that I more accurate is a highly complex, expensive, and time consuming LC/MS test at a high-complexity laboratory.
5. Stay with Friends
Always use the buddy system. Two sets of eyes are better than one set. Go in together and either stay together or check in frequently to make sure you are both doing well. Don’t let your buddy leave with someone even if they seem completely normal. Some of the common drink spike drugs are amnesiacs more than they are sedatives so they may not show the symptoms of being drugged.
6. Be aware of the common warning signs of being drugged:
- Dizziness or confusion
- Sudden drowsiness
- Difficulty speaking or walking
- Sudden forgetfulness
- Nausea
- Feeling way more drunk than expected.
7. Keep your phone charged and attached to you.
Remember the buddy system? If your buddy isn’t with you, you should be texting on a regular basis. Make sure that you have your location shared with them as well. Check that the Uber and Lyft apps are downloaded and updated with a current credit card.
8. Trust your instincts
How many times have we said that something or someone seemed off? Or we thought we saw something but wasn’t sure? The best-case scenario in following your gut is maybe missing out on something. The worst-case scenario could be putting yourself in mortal danger.
Public event such as music festivals are supposed to be all about fun and unforgettable experiences – not experience you want to forget. Always be aware of where your drink is and your friends are and enjoy your time!