Kenneth Fox
Gardaí have received more than 40 official reports of drug spiking across the country since the start of the year.
As the Irish Examiner reports, they are now urging any other victims to come forward amid concerns that many spiking incidents go unreported.
Between January 1st and April 11st, there were 41 reports of spiking made to gardaí.
The figures were revealed as a new online hub was established for people to log their experiences of being spiked in Ireland.
So far, 80 people have posted details of being spiked since it was set up by Safe Gigs Ireland and the Cork Sexual Violence Centre.
A therapist with the Cork Sexual Violence Centre, Dola Twomey, said that some victims of spiking feel that they are not believed or taken seriously.
"The attitude is that they drank too much," she said.
As well as incidents in pubs and clubs, there have been reports of spiking in private homes at parties.
She explained that the effects of spiking can vary from having “lost hours and not knowing what happened” to being attacked or ending up in hospital.
“Spiking is a form of violence in its own right. The more examples we can gather, the more armed we are to go to gardaí and venues about this.”
Ms Twomey said it is hoped the project will help minimise harm in the future as well as highlight to people the dangers of spiking.
The Health Service Executive has an online advice page on spiking, and urges anyone who believes they have been spiked to tell somebody, “as you cannot be sure how your body will react to an unknown substance.”
You can report an incident of drink spiking here.
