It happens all too often in college, but increasingly, it's even happening to tourists of all ages
in various parts of the world.
Think it can't happen to you?
You're wrong.
Drugging is carried out for a variety of reasons, and while we've all grown accustomed to drinks
being spiked in clubs and bars around the country, increasingly criminals are turning
to drugs in places that might surprise you.
In 2017 a 20 year old vacationer made his way to the swim-up bar at his exclusive Mexico
resort.
Soon after, he drowned.
The suspected culprit?
Either purposeful drugging by the bar staff or someone at the bar, or compromised alcohol
served by the bar itself.
In another case, two teenage brothers from Minnesota woke up in their underwear and covered
in mud after imbibing drinks at a resort south of the border.
They had been drugged and robbed of everything except their underwear.
In yet another case, a married couple was drugged and woke up hours later with no memory
of what happened- the husband was found to have an injury similar to a “boxers break”,
a type of broken hand typically suffered from delivering repeated, forceful punches.
Perhaps no drug is more feared though than scopolamine, the zombie drug that is starting
to spread throughout South America.
Originating in Columbia, the drug is also known as “the devil's breath”, and is
used in alarming frequency- with upwards of 1,000 incidents a year in Bogota.
No normal roofie, scopolamine blocks neurotransmitters that carry information to the part of the
brain that stores short-term memories.
In a devilish one-two punch though, the drug also affects the individual's ability to make
decisions and makes them incredibly open to suggestions.
Victims have been known to do almost anything asked of them by the drugger, including emptying
out entire bank accounts or opening up home safes.
One man was drugged by a party goer at his home, and when he came to all of his valuables-including
a stash of money he had hidden away- were stolen.
The victim had willingly led the thief to his secret hiding stash.
But the drug is used in more nefarious crimes as well- in 2012 kidnappers drugged a family
and took their 7 year old daughter.
She was rescued two months later, but the investigation was seriously hampered by the
victim's inability to recall anything about the perpetrators.
In yet another case, women preyed on men by rubbing the drug on their body and inviting
men to “take a lick”.
The men would become completely incapacitated and open to the women's suggestions, who would
then hold the men hostage for three days as they emptied out all of their financial accounts
and handed over their valuables.
Incredibly, in Bogota alone a whopping 20% of ER visits are related to criminal poisoning,
with upwards of 50,000 scopolamine related crimes a year in the entire nation.
Now the drug is spreading around the world, with cases popping up in Thailand- and rumors
are the drug may have finally come into use here in the US.
Still think drugging can't happen to you just because you're careful?
Surviving being drugged begins with prevention.
First, be aware of your surroundings.
If in a foreign country, stick to the highly traveled tourist watering holes- bragging
about ditching the yuppie resorts to get to know the “real” locals by pounding tequila
in a crappy dive bar might make for a cool story, but it's also a recipe for disaster.
Resorts live and die by their reputation, and even local communities often rely heavily
on tourism for their economies.
A bad reputation or one too many shady incidents is all it takes to create a global panic,
and suddenly tourists stop showing up.
That's why most popular tourism destinations take great pains to keep their guests safe,
and the moment you step out of that safety bubble you're in the jungle... sometimes literally.
Still, you should do some research before planning your next getaway destination.
Have there been any previous drugging incidents at this location?
Any history of unexplained illnesses?
If so, time to skip on that resort and find a new one, ideally far away.
But no matter how careful you are, sometimes you can't escape local corruption- it's believed
for instance that some of the drugging cases in Mexico lately weren't drugging cases at
all.
Instead, it was simply bad booze- up to 43% of all alcohol created in Mexico is done so
illegally in unregulated, under-the-counter operations.
This can mean serious defects in the finished product, sometimes with fatal consequences.
It may pay to ask your resort beforehand where they source their alcohol if you plan on drinking.
You should also be wary of overly friendly locals.
You shouldn't be naturally mistrustful of people, but if a local is a little too friendly
and offering up free booze, maybe take a skip on that offer.
It might seem a little rude, but better to be briefly rude than end up a statistic.
However, our next tips apply both for travelers and the average joe sitting at a local bar-
and yes, even men can be drugged for nefarious purposes.
In fact, it's more common than you might think, though the end result is typically robbery.
Over the years there have been several incidents of women drugging men in order to steal their
valuables.
First, watch your alcohol at all times.
If you can, keep an eye on your alcohol as it's being made by the bartender.
Sometimes an offender will be in cahoots with the bartender, and the pill or powder can
be slipped in while the drink is being made.
If your bartender is spending a lot of time with your drink out of view, don't be afraid
to cancel your order.
You don't owe the bar anything until you physically take the drink from the bartender.
Once you've got your drink, keep a close eye on it.
Try and always make sure your drink is within line of sight, and avoid anyone you don't
know who insists on being just a little bit too close.
Most druggers are skilled at sleight of hand, and some close physical proximity and a moment's
lapse in awareness is all they need to spike a drink.
It can be helpful to get in the habit of physically covering your drink whenever strangers get
a little too close- and under absolutely no circumstances should you leave your drink
unattended.
If you've gotta use the bathroom, go in turns so someone is always watching.
Or simply order new drinks.
Remember, a moment's lapse in awareness is all you need to end up a victim.
It goes without saying that accepting drinks from strangers is a bad idea.
If a stranger buys you a drink, refuse it unless the bartender made it themselves.
If he or she approaches with drink already in hand, that's pretty sus- politely refuse
the drink but tell them you'd happily accept one made fresh by the bartender.
On that same note, never share your drink with someone you don't trust.
Not only are bar drinks typically ridiculously expensive, but sharing a drink or letting
someone you don't know or trust just “have a sip” gives them the opportunity to slip
something inside of it.
What if despite all your vigilance though, the worst comes to pass?
What do you do now that you've been drugged?
First, get in contact with someone you trust immediately.
Most agents used for the purpose of roofing or drugging people are very fast acting, and
can mimic drunk symptoms as a good cover.
You should know yourself pretty well though, and if you suddenly start feeling strange
or a lot more drunk than you should be, contact someone.
Grab a friend, or even the bartender if you have to- it's important to act fast because
time is extremely limited and soon you may not have any control over your actions at
all.
If there's no one around you trustworthy, call 911 immediately and give them a good
description of yourself, including your race, age, sex, height, weight, and what you're
wearing.
You want to make yourself easy to spot for responding officers.
Next, get somewhere as safe as realistically possible.
If you're overseas and near a resort, get back to the resort asap.
Don't even worry about paying your bill- if the bar calls the police on you for dipping
out on a bar tab they're basically doing step number one for you.
It'll be easier to clear up a ditched bar tab if you don't end up a victim.
If you're at home and somewhere public, try and get to an authority figure if possible.
If no police are nearby, try a bouncer or bartender- they are typically trained to spot
this kind of thing and take appropriate action.
Ideally you'll have a friend with you though, in which case you 'll want to stick by their
side.
Next, start drinking as much water as you can.
This will help dilute the drug and get it through your system as quickly as possible.
Some drugs can also leave you extremely dehydrated, which will only make the coming symptoms even
worse.
Whether it's tap water or bottled water, this is no time to get picky- just get as much
H20 inside of you as possible as quickly as possible.
However, maintain vigilance over where you're getting your water from, which may be difficult
in an increasingly impaired state.
There's no point in treating symptoms of being drugged only to get drugged again.
As you're making your way to safety or chugging down water, one thing you'll want to do is
record the time you started feeling strange.
A good way of doing this is to simply send yourself or a friend a text- the timestamp
will allow you to later recall exactly when you started feeling symptoms.
This can help doctors figure out when you were actually drugged, creating a timetable
that can be useful for police investigating your case.
It can also give doctors an idea of exactly what drug you were given, and how best to
combat it.
Whatever you do, never leave a location alone or with people you don't trust.
A perpetrator may be happy to wait out the drug until you're completely incapacitated
before making their move, or they may seek to try and usher you out of the location you
were drugged at while you still maintain some semblance of self-control.
In either case, make sure you aren't left alone, and when leaving a location have someone
you trust come with you.
Lastly, you need to get to a hospital asap.
If you're here in the states, an ambulance ride may cost you a few thousand dollars if
you don't have insurance, but is infinitely better than the alternative.
If overseas, you should have a list of local emergency numbers and medical facilities on
hand before you go out to party.
Making and having a plan is the best way to stay safe, and you should always be aware
of where you can turn for help in a worst case scenario.
Being prepared can make all the difference should the worst happen to you.
If going to a party, you should always go in a group and appoint someone to remain sober
who can care for the group.
You should also get in the habit of continuously checking in with group members throughout
the night.
If you're underage, don't be afraid of getting in trouble for drinking by helping a friend
who feels unwell get to the police or a hospital- many places make exceptions for underage drinking
if you're assisting someone in a medical emergency.
Lastly, be proactive about protecting not just yourself or others.
If you see someone spiking a drink, do something about it immediately.
Confront the person directly, dump out the drink, and alert a bartender or authority
figure.
Sadly, as numerous social experiments have shown- including the famous tv show What Would
You Do?- many witnesses to individuals drugging drinks often say nothing, or perhaps wait
until the drugger and the druggee have made their exit to alert the bartender.
You might be the last chance somebody has to avoid a tragedy, so if you see something,
do something about it.
Now have a sniff of this powder and go check out How to actually survive being shot, or
click this other video instead!