My name is Mair Howells and I am the founder of @ivebeenspiked. In February 2020, I had my drink spiked. Since then, I have been campaigning to raise awareness around drink spiking. 

When it happened to me there was no support for victims, and it was difficult to access any information on the issue. This left me feeling lost, vulnerable and helpless. 

@ivebeenspiked is a safe space for people who have been spiked. We offer a platform to share stories, offer support, access information and demand action. It is the first platform of its kind in the uk, specifically focusing on spiking.

Right now, reports are coming out across the U.K. about spiking, with more than ten people in the past week reporting incidents of spiking done through injection. Despite the reports coming out this week, I know from mine and many others experiences that many spiking stories go unreported. The police will not investigate without a blood test, and these are very hard to access. This means many cases go unreported.

Alongside running the platform - I am currently providing bars, pubs and clubs up and down the country with posters in order to control the risk of a spiking incident and to ensure that, if a person’s drink is spiked, they receive the help they need. However, this issue has become bigger than I could ever have imagined, and it’s not something that can be faced alone. Post lockdown I have seen a drastic increase in spiking, including more sinister methods of administration such as via injection.

This is a call for an urgent review into spiking. The government should require bars, clubs and pubs to take greater precautions in order to prevent it, increase education around spiking and the laws surrounding it, make testing more available, and put in place arrangements to provide after care for those who have been spiked.

Together we can do something about spiking.