A test proved Mia had been drugged. But many other victims never know for sure

Mia* was out for drinks with her colleagues in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley three years ago when her drink was spiked.

She had switched to water about 10pm, not wanting to drink too much at the work event at a Brunswick Street Mall bar.

But half an hour later, the then 24-year-old started feeling “super nauseous”.

“Everyone was asking me if I was OK, if I had drunk too much. I was confused because I had stopped drinking,” Mia recalls.

She left the bar and returned to her office, where she collapsed at her desk.

“My body felt really heavy. I could move, but my movements weren’t very controlled. I don’t think I could have stood up properly and walked unassisted without falling over.”

She called her partner to come pick her up, and made it home safe.

A few days later, Mia decided to see a GP and ask for a drug test. It returned positive for benzodiazepines, a depressant drug with a sedative effect used to treat anxiety and insomnia.

“I suspected I was spiked because I’ve been given benzodiazepines and reacted poorly to them in the past,” she says. “They make me mentally foggy for a few days afterwards, which is how I was feeling.”

It’s uncommon for drink-spiking victims to have their experience validated by a toxicology test. “A lot of people usually start piecing it together but then by the time they go [to get tested], it’s too late for anything to realistically show up,” she says.

Health professionals say there is a narrow window to test for drugs. For most substances associated with drink spiking, the ideal timeframe is between 12 and 72 hours, though some drugs leave the body in as little as three hours.

Some who believe they have been spiked will head to an emergency department, but Queensland Health say hospitals “will not routinely facilitate testing for drink spiking due to impact on treatment times”.

“Our emergency departments treat patients based on their symptoms to ensure they receive the best care possible, and toxicology tests are generally not required to guide treatment,” a spokesperson said. They can, however, refer patients to police for forensic testing.

Queensland Police say that once a complaint is received, “an investigation will commence” and testing will be organised if needed.

The Alcohol and Drug Foundation chief executive Dr Erin Lalor AM says drink spiking has always been under-reported in Australia, with victims often fearful they’ll be blamed for what happened, “especially if they were already drinking or taking other drugs”.

But what if there was a faster way to determine if a drink has been spiked, even before the victim or the perpetrator leaves a venue?

Troy Stewart is the managing director of SureScreen Australia, the company behind a new rapid drink-spiking test. He believes these devices are the missing component to address the issue.

The device is designed to detect drugs commonly associated with drink spiking, including GHB, ketamine and 22 types of benzodiazepines, within minutes, not hours.

While no single test can guarantee a drink is safe, Stewart says SureScreen’s technology has performed significantly better than other products, particularly with variables such as milk products and fruit juices.

Stewart has spent the last 12 months lobbying governments and other stakeholders to help stock the tests in venues across the country. In high-risk precincts, such as Fortitude Valley, he wants the government to fund a pilot trial that could see them distributed to every bar.

“If venues have these devices on hand, it means that anyone who suspects their drink has been tampered with can approach a staff member to have their beverage tested immediately,” he says.

In the New South Wales city of Albury, a trial of the devices in the area’s clubs and pubs has seen early signs of success.

Nine days after the trial began in February, patrons saw something being added to a woman’s drink.

“They reported that to security and security then very swiftly checked video footage and validated what they had seen,” Albury Liquor Accord chair Craig Kidd says.

“They approached the victim and took their drink to get tested. It returned a positive result – twice.”

Kidd says the victim was taken to a hospital in Albury with the tests, where police were also called. NSW police used the security footage to identify the perpetrator, who was found and charged with possessing illicit substances.

“We’re hoping by having the drink spiking devices available during this trial, we can normalise that you should report it,” Kidd says.

Stewart has presented to Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Gympie, Bundaberg, Gladstone and Chinchilla liquor accords, and contacted Queensland’s chief police, health, justice and youth ministers. He says they’ve been receptive, but as yet, no Queensland cities have signed up for a trial like the one in NSW.

Kidd says Albury’s trial began in response to reports, largely spread across social media, about incidents of suspected drink spiking.

“The local press picked up on that … but it was really hard to quantify.”

A similar trend exists in Queensland. Last year it was revealed the police database QPRIME does not capture statistics for spiking alone. Queensland Health does not have records of drink spiking either, only statistics showing drug-related presentations to emergency departments.

Meanwhile, several cases of drink spiking have caught the public’s attention. Labor MP Brittany Lauga spoke publicly about being drugged and sexually assaulted on a night out in Yeppoon last year.

Months later, an alleged mass spiking incident was reported at a hotel in Gympie, north of Brisbane, with almost a dozen women seeking medical assistance, and several hospitalised.

In NSW, where drink spiking data is captured, figures show incidents on the rise. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows incidents of drink and food spiking has more than doubled over the last decade.

Just this week, Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force warned a “tidal wave” of the drink-spiking drug known as “fantasy” or “bute” had reached Australian shores. The substance turns into gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) once ingested, and has been used to commit theft, sexual assault and rape.

SureScreen’s tests already detect GHB, and Stewart says they are working to expand the product to include emerging illicit substances, such as synthetic opioids.

“Drink spiking is no longer limited to sexual assault; we are seeing increasing links to robbery, identity theft, and potentially fatal overdoses, particularly involving synthetic opioids and GHB,” Stewart says.

“Our vision is simple: MRBT kits should be standard safety equipment in every licensed venue — right alongside naloxone and first aid kits.”

Fortitude Valley bar owner Kate isn’t waiting for a government-led initiative to implement testing devices in her venue.

After one of her staff members suspected their drink had been spiked, she went online to find a drink-spiking test, and discovered SureScreen’s product. She has since purchased the devices for her bar.

Despite worrying the tests might give patrons the impression her venue has a problem with drink spiking, Kate says the measure was a “no-brainer”, and is surprised to be the only venue in Brisbane stocking the devices.

“There are bars that have had reports of drink spiking over and over again…why haven’t they done what I did and sought out a solution?

“For me, it’s due diligence.”

Anthony Drew manages a number of venues in Melbourne’s CBD, including bars on Chapel Street. He believes the tests act as a powerful deterrent, and have the added benefit of proving false claims.

“I never want to receive a positive result on a beverage testing kit,” he says.

“But the knowledge that they’re there can hopefully act as a deterrent.”