Has \u2018lad culture\u2019 inspired a generation of student spiking in nightclubs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The general idea of spiking is to make a victim vulnerable for the purposes of sexual exploitation. However, Ellie Mills, a 19-year-old University of Kent student was spiked in a Canterbury nightclub, for a laugh. The perpetrators gave her drink after drink, containing what she believes to be speed, an Amphetamine. At 3am, when Ellie got home, the intensity of being under a central nervous system stimulant, hit its peak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy body temperature was really really high, I was sweating, my heart was beating fast, I felt dizzy. There were moments where my vision would go cloudy, and my teeth were chattering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI kept burping, it was gross, but I could taste the chemicals in my mouth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery time I tried to sleep, I couldn\u2019t feel my heart rate, and I’m arrhythmic, it was doing really funny things to my heart rate. I didn\u2019t sleep for over 36 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only solace Ellie can find from her ordeal is that it was her who suffered and not her friend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was out with my friend who had heart surgery 6 months ago, if they had spiked her, she would have just died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drugging and spiking is on the rise in Kent, just this week a Canterbury student was hospitalised after her drink was allegedly spiked, also at Club Chemistry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all over Canterbury at the moment, you see warnings from girls all over social media,\u201d Ellie said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why are students spiking drinks? Ellie believes \u2018lad culture\u2019 is partly to blame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s totally for just for their entertainment, to see you on drugs. It\u2019s something I had never ever experienced or heard of in my life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou hear of date-rape drugging, but you don\u2019t hear about somebody handing you a drink with an amphetamine and think it\u2019s the funniest thing in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel safe in that environment anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allegedly, the bouncers at Chemistry have been told about these incidences\u2019 multiple times, but students say they \u2018don\u2019t do anything\u2019 and \u2018they aren\u2019t bothered about it at all\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kent Union\u2019s Women\u2019s Society, supporting and advocating for Kent students, wants the university to hand out drink covers \u2018as frequently as it does pens and notebooks\u2019. Drink covers curb the ease of spiking, by reducing accessibility. This is something students can use when out clubbing, however it puts the onus on the victims to ensure their safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research has revealed that women are targeted more than men, with one 2016 study finding that 71 per cent of spiking victims were female. The women\u2019s society said that \u2018the responsibility not to get spiked is and should not be on women\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDuring nights out, guards are down, and especially younger students are not used to being in a clubbing environment and often have not had much experience with alcohol either. Spikers know this and take advantage of these vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost of us hear at least one of these stories every week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Unions women\u2019s society also emphasized that they can\u2019t assure students that they\u2019re safe, they can only warn people and remind them to watch their drinks and always stay with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nightclub, Club Chemistry in Canterbury has been given the opportunity to reply to these claims but has not yet responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Abby Hook<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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