It’s the beginning of the school year, and many college students are arriving on campuses ready to begin their university journey, make new friends and have some fun. But this exciting new chapter can have a darker side.
College students are considered a high-risk group for drugging — that is, when alcohol or drugs are given to someone without their knowledge or consent. But it’s not just college students at risk for this, according to Suzanne Swan, a professor of women's and gender studies and psychology at the University of South Carolina.
Anyone out enjoying a bar, at a party or a club is at a higher risk in those settings. And drugging doesn't always look like what you might expect. But there are things people can do to help prevent it.
How prevalent is drugging?
It’s tough to determine how prevalent drugging is because it’s an understudied area, said Swan, who has been digging into the subject in recent years.
Often the terms “date rape drugs” or “roofies” are used to refer to substances people use to spike another’s drink with the goal of sexually assaulting them. But research shows that the intention is not always sex — people may drug a friend’s drink because they think it'll be fun, or they do it as a prank.
Drugging is ultimately an issue of consent, Swan said.
“It’s not OK to touch somebody's body without their permission. It's also not OK to give somebody a drug that they don't know about without their permission,” she said.
Swan led a 2016 study of more than 6,000 college students at three universities to examine the outcomes and motives of drugging. The researchers found that about 1 in 13 people (about 462 students) said they had been drugged — a “pretty significant” finding, she said. And 83 students said they had drugged someone or knew someone who had drugged someone — about 1.4%.
Sex or sexual assault was not always the motive for drugging someone. Other motives included “having fun” and getting others more drunk or high, or getting someone to relax, the study found.
“Most of the people who had been drugged didn't say they were sexually assaulted," Swan said. "So of those people who were drugged, 85% of them said they were not.” But “15% being sexually assaulted is a huge number,” she noted.
It’s a major concern, said Jennifer Simmons Kaleba, the vice president of communications for RAINN, an anti-sexual assault organization.
Generally, more than 50% of college sexual assaults occur August through November, especially for students new to the college campus, Simmons Kaleba said.
An over-inflated sense of safety in a new environment and increased access to alcohol collide, “and I think you have a pretty perfect storm for being taken advantage of by things like drug facilitated sexual assault,” she said.
Ultimately, people may not know for certain that they were drugged, or what they were drugged with.
“Some people said, ‘I can't prove it. All I know is that I only had one drink and it was the drink I usually drink. But I passed out, and I don't usually do that.’ So it's very difficult to prove, unfortunately,” Swan said.
Reconsider what constitutes “drugging”
Even though people's minds immediately jump to “roofies” (a common nickname for Rohypnol) when drugging comes up, Swan says she more often sees Xanax and other similar drugs abused for this purpose.
Another extremely common culprit is alcohol alone — as opposed to a drug that's added to a drink.
“We see a lot of overpouring someone’s drink. They think they’re getting a drink with an ounce of alcohol and they’re actually getting two or three. If you’re misleading the person about how much alcohol they’re getting, we would define that as drugging,” Swan said.
Even if someone wanted to overpour their friend's drink or slip them something as a joke, it’s important to remember that is a violation of someone’s body, regardless of the intention, Swan said.
“It may not seem like a big deal to you to drug your friend’s drink, but you don't know how your friend's body might react to this drug. You don't know this person's medical history. You don't know what other medications they might be taking,” she said. “Don't violate that boundary.”
There can be legal penalties for doing so. Depending on the location of the circumstances, someone accused of drugging another person could face charges like assault, infliction of bodily harm (regardless of intent), or misuse of a substance that requires a prescription, Simmons Kaleba said.
Be a good bystander and other safety tips
Swan’s study from 2016 found that in a lot of cases where a student was drugged, there were fortunately friends of the person there to take care of them, who knew something wasn’t right and helped them get home, potentially preventing some of the worst things from happening, Swan said.
Simmons Kaleba and Swan recommend that everyone be an active, positive bystander while out in these settings.
“If you see somebody tamper with somebody's drink or any kind of substance, speak up. Be that person,” Simmons Kaleba said.
It’s also important to guard your own food and drinks, don't leave them unattended, and watch your friend’s items if they do walk away, she and Swan said.
A lot of the focus tends to be on being alert while drinking alcohol, but anyone drinking water, soda or other nonalcoholic beverages could have their drinks spiked, too, Simmons Kaleba said.
There are several signs that can alert someone to whether they have been drugged, according to RAINN, including: difficulty breathing, feeling drunk despite having little to no alcohol, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision and waking up with little to no memory. If you or someone you know is suspected of being drugged, seek medical help.
Simmons Kaleba added that if you are ever a victim of drugging, "The first thing to know is you're not at fault. Ever."
Copyright 2024 NPR
