A night out with friends took a terrifying turn for a Queen’s university student earlier this month when she says she became the victim of an attempted needle spiking.
“Needle spiking” happens when a person is drugged through a hypodermic needle. It has been reported frequently in the U.K., and it’s becoming more common in North America.
“I knew I had to leave the dance floor because I had this feeling that something had happened,” the student said.
On March 5, the third-year Queen’s student, whom Global News has decided not to name, says someone stuck her with a needle while she was dancing with friends at Trinity Social, a downtown Kingston nightclub.
“I was jumping and something flashed and all of a sudden my arm felt like similar to when you get a needle or a vaccine,” the woman said.
Experts say needle spiking attacks have become a common way to administer date-rape drugs.
The student said she immediately got help from the bar’s staff, who called an ambulance and looked after her while she waited to be transferred to hospital.
“I have such a vivid memory of the needle coming toward me that I think it helps me want to tell my story since I can help protect other people who might not be able to remember,” the woman said.
According to the Sexual Health Resource Centre at Queen’s, this isn’t an isolated incident. They say this is the second report of needle spiking in the Kingston area this month.
“This isn’t the first time this has popped up. Across different cities in North America, including Kingston and cities like Toronto and Vancouver, increases in reports in the needle sticking will increase every few years or so,” said Georgia Kersche, director of the Sexual Health Resource Centre.
The third-year Queen’s student said that she never lost consciousness and that she thinks the injection didn’t work properly.
The owner of Trinity Social, John Saris, said he and his staff were extremely troubled when they heard of the brazen attack on one of their patrons. He added that there are measures the nightclub industry can take in response.
“We increased our lighting in certain places. We’ve increased our customer logging with regards to our ID scanners so we know who’s coming in and out of the building. We’re looking into lids,” Saris said.
“There’s a wide variety of things we can do to address this.”
The Queen’s student said things could have ended much worse.
She said she’s speaking out so organizations like the police, universities, nightclubs and sexual outreach centres can work together to increase vigilance about needle spiking so no one has to have a fun night out turned upside down.