More measures are needed to combat the scourge of spiking, Norfolk’s police and crime commissioner has said.
Giles Orpen-Smellie admitted revellers remained fearful that they could fall victim to drink and needle spiking at venues across the county.
Spiking incidents were widely reported as nightclubs and bars reopened following Covid restrictions with Norfolk police recording 60 reports of spiking - 51 of them in Norwich - during October and November alone.
It prompted Norwich City Council to introduce measures, including tighter admission requirements at venues, improved staff training at clubs, and to a call for an increase in police funding to target the problem.
Mr Orpen-Smellie’s office has provided extra funding to allow drink spiking test kits to be rolled out to nearly 40 venues in Norwich and Great Yarmouth.
But he said despite efforts to reduce the risks, spiking of drinks still remains an issue though how widespread is not easily determined.
“There certainly seems to be a problem with spiking but there is sometimes a difficulty in identifying if what is reported as spiking is actually spiking,” he said.
Injection spiking, where people are jabbed with needles while on a night out, is even more difficult to detect.
“There were lots of claims made about needle spiking, but in my conversations with the chief constable he was struggling to substantiate most of those claims,” said Mr Orpen-Smellie.
The government recently reclassified GHB, a drug used to spike drinks, and introduced harsher jail sentences of up to five years for its unlawful possession, while those involved in supply and production will face up to 14 years.
Mr Orpen-Smellie said a continued partnership approach taking in venue licensing conditions, better staff training and heightened awareness amongst revellers was needed not just in Norwich but in smaller towns.
Norwich’s nightclub district is policed by 27 officers on Friday and Saturday nights, with additional support from the SOS Bus.
He said: “Not all our venues and night time economy are like Prince of Wales Road. Are we taking the same approach in Lynn, Thetford, Downham Market, Great Yarmouth, the smaller towns that have their own venues?”
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