'My drink was spiked' - The 'dog ate my homework' excuse

whisky_galore

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/latest-teens-could-have-died-from-alcohol-intoxication-at-west-cork-disco-says-specialist-829505.html

Dr Chris Luke, a consultant in emergency medicine at CUH and the Mercy University Hospital....criticised the ‘my drink was spiked’ response of some parents and teenagers caught up in similar incidents.
He said such spiking incidents are rare in Ireland and he encounters such cases maybe once or twice a year.

“I can’t tell you how upsetting it is for staff in hospitals to be working flat out, minding the young people of this country, only to be abused by parents who are alleging some mysterious third party spiked their teenager’s drink.
“If it were the case, we would have the worst epidemic of drink spiking in the history of Europe and I don’t believe that is the case.”
- Irish Examiner

Trigger Happy

How do you spike someones naggan of vodka when it is stuffed down their socks?
Parents need a dose of reality - their angels are not angels!

JMNolan

Teenagers drinking? Fucking country is going down the tubes.

Markcheese

To be fair, that bottle of coke was spiked!! with vodka... It's just a mystery to the little darlings how the vodka got there..

hynesie08

I've lost count of the number of times my drink has been spiked. And it's always the 12th one they spike. Bastards.

Lia_lia

He’s right though. The amount of girls I used to hang out with when I was younger that would say their drinks were spiked.

No Mary, you just drank half a litre of vodka in an hour.

Del2005

Just because you spike your own drink doesn't mean that it wasn't spiked.

odyssey06

Does Dr Chris moonlight as a drinks detective or how does he know which cases are genuine???

I'm sure a lot of people use the excuse and it's total nonsense, but if Dr Chris has some foolproof way to tell the nonsense from the genuine we are all ears...

Person A might be drinking spirit+coke at a party and Person B, with an ulterior motive, gives them a double or more instead of a single... that's a low level form of spiking but one or two of those and someone is over the edge.

wandatowell

The dog ate my homework excuse is a classic. A fella in my 6th class came up with "My budgie ate the page"

LadyMacBeth_

I've gotten black out drunk more times than I can count and I am fully sure it was all self-inflicted and no one spiked my drink. You do hear people using it as an excuse sometimes when they get off their faces.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Trigger Happy wrote: »

How do you spike someones naggan of vodka when it is stuffed down their socks?
Parents need a dose of reality - their angels are not angels!

Every mother thinks her duck is a swan.

Ajsoprano

I was at a works party years ago and a few lads put a few e in the bosses pint.

I didn’t find out until later but was wondering why he was dancing like a madman and kissing the face off some aul wan.

Vladimir Poontang

It is every drunk embarrassed woman's favourite excuse to avoid responsibility for her own behaviour.

Watch this medic get torn a new one in the media in the coming days by some professional outrage artist.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

In the innocent good old days we always seemed to blame that last 'bad pint'.

charlietheminxx

Ajsoprano wrote: »

I was at a works party years ago and a few lads put a few e in the bosses pint.

I didn’t find out until later but was wondering why he was dancing like a madman and kissing the face off some aul wan.

This happened to me once. Not the kissing an aul one bit or the work party but yeah.

meeeeh

odyssey06 wrote: »

Does Dr Chris moonlight as a drinks detective or how does he know which cases are genuine???

I'm sure a lot of people use the excuse and it's total nonsense, but if Dr Chris has some foolproof way to tell the nonsense from the genuine we are all ears...

Person A might be drinking spirit+coke at a party and Person B, with an ulterior motive, gives them a double or more instead of a single... that's a low level form of spiking but one or two of those and someone is over the edge.

Oh come on. Hordes of drunken kids and then parents defending their excessive drinking with some 'spiking' bs. Most kids will drink when they can get away with it, but responsible parents won't enable them and invent excuses for them.

hynesie08

Gia Agreeable Bodyguard wrote: »

In the innocent good old days we always seemed to blame that last 'bad pint'.

Or the curry on the way home.

A mother made a big fuss some years ago about her darling daughters drink being spiked. She was on some radio show. A hospital A&E consultant came on and said that her drink was most likely spiked with more drink. He said that drinking double vodkas and Red Bull was the cause of a spike in admissions to A& E.

The Backwards Man

As someone who used to have to spend fifteen to twenty hours every Monday looking at video footage, the ratio of people who claim their drinks were spiked to those who actually had their drinks spiked is in the many hundreds to one. Problem is, that makes the bastards that actually do slip a Mickey a lot harder to catch.

Rubberchikken

Its the same pathetic excuse as the 'dirty glass' excuse used to explain some tool emptying his guts after too much drink.

odyssey06

meeeeh wrote: »

Oh come on. Hordes of drunken kids and then parents defending their excessive drinking with some 'spiking' bs. Most kids will drink when they can get away with it, but responsible parents won't enable them and invent excuses for them.

My main point is... He said such spiking incidents are rare in Ireland and he encounters such cases maybe once or twice a year.

I read the article and a lot of what he says was reasonable, common sense, he seems like a decent guy but that throwaway line came out of nowhere with zero justification... My expectation is that the majority of cases are fake but I'm just curious as to how he's so sure which ones are genuine and fake.

odyssey06

Deleted User wrote: »

A mother made a big fuss some years ago about her darling daughters drink being spiked. She was on some radio show. A hospital A&E consultant came on and said that her drink was most likely spiked with more drink. He said that drinking double vodkas and Red Bull was the cause of a spike in admissions to A& E.

Most likely yes.
But how does the A&E consultant know in this specific case whether it was genuine or fake.
And if he doesn't, how does he know it's the most likely explanation???

The Backwards Man

Rubberchikken wrote: »

Its the same pathetic excuse as the 'dirty glass' excuse used to explain some tool emptying his guts after too much drink.

Dirty glass can and will make you sick though, even when you're not drinking alcohol. But yeah, I know what you mean.

odyssey06

odyssey06 wrote: »

Most likely yes.
But how does the A&E consultant know in this specific case whether it was genuine or fake.
And if he doesn't, how does he know it's the most likely explanation???

Experience. He wasn’t talking about that specific case, however.

meeeeh

odyssey06 wrote: »

My main point is... He said such spiking incidents are rare in Ireland and he encounters such cases maybe once or twice a year.

I read the article and a lot of what he says was reasonable, common sense, he seems like a decent guy but that throwaway line came out of nowhere with zero justification... My expectation is that the majority of cases are fake but I'm just curious as to how he's so sure which ones are genuine and fake.

He is talking about averages. And you can generalise about averages. He didn't name kids.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Ajsoprano wrote: »

I was at a works party years ago and a few lads put a few e in the bosses pint.

I didn’t find out until later but was wondering why he was dancing like a madman and kissing the face off some aul wan.

That's a rotten thing to do to another human being.

What if he'd had an adverse reaction or took a heart attack or something. Serious charges would've been leveled against the perpetrators.

Wibbs

odyssey06 wrote: »

My main point is... He said such spiking incidents are rare in Ireland and he encounters such cases maybe once or twice a year.

I read the article and a lot of what he says was reasonable, common sense, he seems like a decent guy but that throwaway line came out of nowhere with zero justification... My expectation is that the majority of cases are fake but I'm just curious as to how he's so sure which ones are genuine and fake.

There was a study from a few years back(UCD IIRC I'll try and dig up a link) where they looked at toxicology reports over a two year period as far as I recall, where patients insisted their drinks were spiked and asked their bloodwork be checked. And they didn't find a single case in the results. They did find excess alcohol and other drugs, mostly cannabis, but of rohypnol etc nada.

valoren

I think the point he was making is not about teens drinking vodka neat to the point of requiring hospitalisation but rather made one the one hand in support of the staff who really had better things to be doing than tending to scuttered dopes and on the other hand was made to call out the deluded parents who are clearly in denial and that they need to have a talk with them about not being complete moron's when drinking in future instead of insulting his and the staff's intelligence.

ANXIOUS

Wibbs wrote: »

There was a study from a few years back(UCD IIRC I'll try and dig up a link) where they looked at toxicology reports over a two year period as far as I recall, where patients insisted their drinks were spiked and asked their bloodwork be checked. And they didn't find a single case in the results. They did find excess alcohol and other drugs, mostly cannabis, but of rohypnol etc nada.

I'd be interested in that wibbs.

Sleepy

The amount of times I've heard it claimed by women I know to think nothing of having 5/6 doubles in an evening has always bemused me tbh.

Sure love, it was something other than the half bottle of spirits you consumed that lowered your inhibitions enough to cause a scene with your dramatics / sleep with another drunken member of staff and puke all over yourself.

Nope, it couldn't possibly be that you abused the most widely abused drug in the world and don't want to accept responsibility for your own actions. Impossible. :rolleyes:

blue note

I've been caught by surprise plenty of times with how quickly the drink has hit me. Usually I could have 3 or 4 pints and be well under the effect of the drink but not be drunk. But the odd time I could have 4 pints and be properly drunk. More often then not I can think back and realise I was tired or hadn't eaten anything substantial or something. But occasionally, without explanation it just hit me worse than normal.

It's surprising how many people this happens to who think that their drink must have been spiked.

tabby aspreme

Wibbs wrote: »

There was a study from a few years back(UCD IIRC I'll try and dig up a link) where they looked at toxicology reports over a two year period as far as I recall, where patients insisted their drinks were spiked and asked their bloodwork be checked. And they didn't find a single case in the results. They did find excess alcohol and other drugs, mostly cannabis, but of rohypnol etc nada.

I think it's filed away next to the , One of my kidneys was stolen in the jacks , file

El Weirdo

whisky_galore wrote: »

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/latest-teens-could-have-died-from-alcohol-intoxication-at-west-cork-disco-says-specialist-829505.html

He described it as a 'vomatorium' and said the children were "paralytically, unconsciously drunk".

That word doesn't mean what he thinks it means.

valoren

The first night of my younger brother's stag party, our dad got sick when we went back to the hotel. He had one shot of Sambuca in the last pub and proclaimed that this shot was the reason he had vomited and embarrassed himself.

Pointing out that the FOURTEEN pints of Guinness he'd drunk before the sambuca might have contributed to his nausea was clearly lost on him :rolleyes:

blue note

Rubberchikken wrote: »

Its the same pathetic excuse as the 'dirty glass' excuse used to explain some tool emptying his guts after too much drink.

Haha - back home it was always a dodgy trip to the kebab shop that people used to blame!

"Oh man, those fcukers in the kebab shop made me so sick this morning."
"Oh yeah? What did you get?"
"Can't remember."

whisky_galore

El Weirdo wrote: »

That word doesn't mean what he thinks it means.

It doesn't, but I guess architectural terms for ancient Roman buildings was not covered in his medical training.

biko

Fecking snowflakes can't hold their drink.

neonsofa

Ajsoprano wrote: »

I was at a works party years ago and a few lads put a few e in the bosses pint.

I didn’t find out until later but was wondering why he was dancing like a madman and kissing the face off some aul wan.

Would pills in his drink not taste absolutely rank?
Not that that's the most pertinent issue with your story, just it was the first thought that came to mind when I read it!

kneemos

odyssey06 wrote: »

My main point is... He said such spiking incidents are rare in Ireland and he encounters such cases maybe once or twice a year.

I read the article and a lot of what he says was reasonable, common sense, he seems like a decent guy but that throwaway line came out of nowhere with zero justification... My expectation is that the majority of cases are fake but I'm just curious as to how he's so sure which ones are genuine and fake.

Well I'll take the medical professionals opinion as gospel.

AlanG

odyssey06 wrote: »

Does Dr Chris moonlight as a drinks detective or how does he know which cases are genuine???

I'm sure a lot of people use the excuse and it's total nonsense, but if Dr Chris has some foolproof way to tell the nonsense from the genuine we are all ears...

Person A might be drinking spirit+coke at a party and Person B, with an ulterior motive, gives them a double or more instead of a single... that's a low level form of spiking but one or two of those and someone is over the edge.

They know because they have to do blood tests on many people who claim their drinks were spiked and these usually come back only for alcohol.

Wibbs

tabby aspreme wrote: »

I think it's filed away next to the , One of my kidneys was stolen in the jacks , file

Well I hate to burst your sure conviction bubble Ted...

ANXIOUS wrote: »

I'd be interested in that wibbs.

No worries. I've not found the university study as yet, but I have found the official stance from The HSE on the matter(PDF Page 9) that concluded that their investigations found that by far the commonest drug in the systems of people presenting with sexual assault was alcohol. To save you trawling through the rest of it here's the pertinent bit:

The Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) in the Rotunda Hospital reported that 60% of the female clients seen at the SATU had ingested alcohol. The median number of drinks consumed and remembered by clients was 8 drinks, but 20% of the clients in the last number of years recalled drinking 12-22 drinks. Between 1998 and 2002, there was an increase from 6% to 27% in the number of cases where SATU was asked to evaluate the possibility of a sexual crime because of memory loss. The possibility of ‘spiked drinks’ was investigated, however the toxicology results showed no other drug was present except alcohol. [Emphasis mine].

Here's another from folks at the sharp edge of helping people who have been sexually assaulted, where they describe alcohol as the "date rape drug".

While I have little doubt drink spiking does occur, I also have little doubt that it is much more a boogyman and urban legend than everyday reality and that in the vast majority of cases people have simply drunk too much* and because it's naturally easier for people to look to outside sources, rather than take some personal responsibility for their state the spiked drink notion is quite popular.


*EDIT* I would put more store in the notion of spiking drinks with alcohol. Say someone who already is well on the way and some wanker adds a double to a mixed drink instead of the single the person was expecting. Or throwing a measure of vodka into a lager. If you're already a bit pissed, you could miss both easily enough.



*alcohol is a relatively gaugeable drug when it comes to its effects. However there is quite the bit of variance between individuals and even for the same individual. Depending on existing fatigue, lack of food, low level illness, mental state etc the same number of drinks one night can have a very different result on another night. Add in that the more one drinks the more judgement is impaired, even the basic ability to keep track of one's intake. And personal responsibility is also impaired.

seamus

Wibbs wrote: »

Here's another from folks at the sharp edge of helping people who have been sexually assaulted, where they describe alcohol as the "date rape drug".

While I have little doubt drink spiking does occur, I also have little doubt that it is much more a boogyman and urban legend than everyday reality and that in the vast majority of cases people have simply drunk too much*

Unfortunately there were a few who took this report to read as "rapists are deliberately spiking drinks with extra alcohol", when the reality is that they're more than likely taking advantage of a drunken state.

It is quite difficult to force an otherwise sober person to drink too much. Throwing an extra shot of vodka into a drink is virtually unmistakeable. That's not to say that when encountering a drunk woman and offering to buy her a drink he doesn't buy her a "sneaky" double.

But the idea that there are predators out there throwing dissolving pills or extra shots of vodka into the glasses of otherwise sober women, is basically an urban legend.

Wibbs

seamus wrote: »

It is quite difficult to force an otherwise sober person to drink too much. Throwing an extra shot of vodka into a drink is virtually unmistakeable. That's not to say that when encountering a drunk woman and offering to buy her a drink he doesn't buy her a "sneaky" double.

But the idea that there are predators out there throwing dissolving pills or extra shots of vodka into the glasses of otherwise sober women, is basically an urban legend.

"Otherwise sober" is the thing though S. Sure if someone has only had two or three drinks then the extra will be noticed, but if they've already had five or six or more then it's more likely to be missed.

odyssey06

kneemos wrote: »

Well I'll take the medical professionals opinion as gospel.

Fair enough if he is talking about spiking with drugs but there is absolutely no way he can tell if someone who had been doing some drinking earlier had their drink spiked with extra alcohol. All he knows is what was in the system not how it got there.

Nitrogan

My phone has been spiked before.

Either that or my drink was hacked.

suicide_circus

Why do my drinks never get spiked with drugs or extra drink ?

ED E

suicide_circus wrote: »

Why do my drinks never get spiked with drugs or extra drink ?

Ya must be a munter.

Ajsoprano

neonsofa wrote: »

Would pills in his drink not taste absolutely rank?
Not that that's the most pertinent issue with your story, just it was the first thought that came to mind when I read it!

I’ve no idea but I’d imagine all the sugars in the mixers might hide it.

I seen these lads in oxegen on ten or so es each and it looked like they weeent even high.

They were laughing saying they were throwing them in daring each other.

It was a terrible thing to do but no harm now looking back nobody got hurt everyone grew up

odyssey06

suicide_circus wrote: »

Why do my drinks never get spiked with drugs or extra drink ?

One work do, the girl running the tab took the drinks orders for everyone. Am pretty sure every whiskey that night was a double.

It was a free bar though... so maybe we all got the topups.

Great night. Terrible morning.

Bob Harris

Gia Agreeable Bodyguard wrote: »

In the innocent good old days we always seemed to blame that last 'bad pint'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwQFGjIy1Fw

fawltyBas

A quick Google finds a number of studies in relation to people claiming to have been spiked. They all come to similar conclusions to the one below, hardly anyone has been spiked they are just drunk.


"A study of patients presenting to an emergency department having had a "spiked drink".

Hughes H1, Peters R, Davies G, Griffiths K.

Author information

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
To assess the scale of drink spiking in our area and identify which drugs are being used to spike drinks and also to assess whether there is a problem with drink spiking in any particular establishment.

METHODS:
A prospective study of all patients presenting to an emergency department with alleged drink spiking over a 12-month period. Samples were analysed for levels of alcohol and drugs of misuse. Information was collected as to where the alleged spiking took place and the involvement of the police.

RESULTS:
75 patients attended with alleged drink spiking over the period of 12 months. 42 samples were analysed and tested positive for drugs of misuse in 8 (19%) cases. 65% of those tested had alcohol concentrations >160 mg%. The alleged spiking took place in 23 different locations, with 2 locations accounting for 31% of responses. Only 14% of those questioned had informed the police.

CONCLUSIONS:
Most patients allegedly having had a spiked drink test negative for drugs of misuse. The symptoms are more likely to be a result of excess alcohol."