'Spiked' drinks

[hostie]

Has anyone had any problems with having drinks 'spiked' whilst downroute?

There have been some reports recently of crew being concerned in the US, concerned enough that we were warned about it in briefing, allegedly the concern is that it may be the hotel bar staff

Has anyone heard of this or had similar problems elsewhere?

Edited for grammatical errors!

[Airbubba]

>>Has anyone heard of this or had similar problems elsewhere?

There are the old airline stories of flight attendants putting Visine in the pilots' coffee (probably false, see: http://www.snopes.com/toxins/visine.asp ). Also, there is a tale of an HIV positive FA caught adding his own "organic" garnish to the salad so others would know his pain.

Some of the recent airline spiked drink stories seem to be variations of the infamous kidney theft story (which is believed to be completely false):
http://www.unos.org/news/newsDetail.asp?id=197

Last year a Northwest flight attendant was charged with spiking the drink of a disabled toddler:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/03/14/spiked.juice.ap/

Ramon Gantz was convicted of spiking the orange juice of a fellow passenger on a Monrach flight:
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/ramongantz.html#Gym

Also in the aviation field, an ATCO was convicted of spiking the coffee pot with bodily fluid when she didn't get a promotion:
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1829

It does look like there is a real problem in the UK with spiked drinks if you believe the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3315637.stm

[Kaptin M]

I'd suspected that the barman in an Aussie Bar in Tokyo was spiking my drinks................... and confirmed it when I got the bill!! :mad:

So, hostie after the drinks are spiked, what is the upshot? (Besides a bad hangover).

[Engineer]

So, hostie after the drinks are spiked, what is the upshot? (Besides a bad hangover). could be a shag gy dog story :ok:

[Basil]

I know two guys who have very good reason to suspect that they were given Rohypnol in a girlie bar in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
I also suspect that one of my kids was given something disabling in London after upsetting the barman.
I have no doubt that it happens.

[ozskipper]

My better half's drink was spiked in a Melbourne bar not so long ago....

Quite frightening and I've never seen anyone so unsteady on their legs (and I've seen a lot of drunk people) and talk about sick (quite literally!!).

Anyway, I keep a firm eye on my drink and circling freaks when out.

[EasyBaby]

Yes, our crew have just been warned too, myself and another crew member believe that we were the victim of spiked drinks, but couldn't prove it. So if your staying at the Thistle Hotel in Luton, never take the wine if its poured from the back room!!!
We both thought the worst was happening to us :yuk:

If in doubt take it back and blame the perverbial fly!!

EB xx

[arcniz]

An interesting question to think about is what to do next if you believe you have fallen prey to a spiked beverage ... or food.

It could be helpful to have an 'exit' plan, with some consideration about how to handle sudden incapacitation in an unfamiliar place.

On one occasion - decades back, I and a couple of friends stopped at a roadside franchise food stand for a snack of 'fish-burgers' on the way to an afternoon excursion with a group on a tour bus. About the time we reached the group, the three of us began to feel lightheaded and rather dizzy. Not long afterward we commenced to see the world with more colors than usual. Fortunately the bus tour placed little demand on us.. other than climbing in and out of the bus.. because we were pretty loopy for the entire 4 or 5 hours.

That incident worked out harmlessly enough - was rather interesting, in fact - but it put that category of scenarios in sharp perspective. The conclusion - unverified - was that a bored young worker at the food stand had chosen to play a prank on us, possibly by adding something to the abundant 'tartar sauce' served on the fish. Under other circumstances - alone, foreign place, stronger effects, etc., it would have been truly terrifying.

[Av18tor]

A couple of years ago I was on holiday in Crete with my then girlfriend. We were staying in a pretty little sea port with a great harbour/marina. One of the bars was an old galleon moored in the harbour.

We went aboard on two occasions the first there being no problems, the second, we were given several chasers of different kinds. I ditched mine not knowing what was in them, my girlfriend Karen didn't. A while later she went to the loo, on her way back up stairs there was a scream, I immediately knew it was her and rushed to see her being pulled towards a locker room by one of the staff, an Albanian. I literally leapt to her defence and was attacked by the barman with a knife. Fortunately for me but unfortunately for him I had been in the service of HM Queen and had been taught to deal with such an attack and as a result he ended up with the knife embedded in his thigh and then 'fell overboard'

We left promptly and reported the incident to the harbour police who took sketchy details and basically said 'don't worry about the barman, he was only albanian, well fish him out in a while'

On the subject of spiking Karen's drinks, I was told that as she had accepted the drinks there was nothing they could do. Also as she was completely out of it she couldn't add anything at all. It took her three days to get over the spiking.

Moral? Beware of barmen giving away free drinks, even when you think you would be safe because your boyfriend is about!

[apaddyinuk]

Hey guys....BE VERY CAREFUL WHEREVER YOUR OUT AND ABOUT!

I recenly got back from a trip to DFW...Didnt leave the hotel at all but met a few of the crew in the hotel bar...we all left and went to bed (not together before another strand starts on that subject) after only a few drinks. I woke up the next morning and didnt feel too right but put it down to the fact that i could possibly have gone over my limit...a few days later when i reported for my next trip I heard that the crew that were after us in DFW all had to me checked out before their flight back as a number of them had their drinks spiked in the hotel bar.!!!! Im not pointing fingers but be careful even of the bar staff in a crew hotel.....watch the drinks being poured and never let the glass go out of your sight!!!

But dont let it ruin your fun!!!! :8