Amid a continued uptick in reported drink-spiking incidents in bars and other venues in Massachusetts, state lawmakers are weighing what role they might have to play in the response.
Sen. Paul Feeney, a Foxborough Democrat, pitched his colleagues Tuesday on one plan for tackling what he described as a “disturbing public health crisis.”
Feeney is the sponsor of a bill that would convene a “date rape drug response and intervention task force” to collect data on confirmed drink-drugging incidents across the state and recommend standard protocols for hospitals.
The bill, which had a hearing before the Health Care Financing Committee Tuesday, would require hospitals to test for the presence of a date rape drug at a patient's request, regardless of whether a sexual assault also occurred. The bill will also direct the Department of Public Health to publish a list of resources online for people who believe they were involuntarily drugged.
Feeney told the committee the issue came to his attention when he learned of a constituent who sought testing at a Boston hospital after she suspected her drink had been spiked on a night out. The hospital, he said, told her they could not perform such a test unless she was also reporting a rape or sexual assault.
The woman was a college student, and a test she received from her campus health services "confirmed that she was roofied the night before," Feeney said.
“Imagine that,” he said. “You’re reporting a crime, that somebody drugged you, but because you weren’t reporting a secondary crime, a rape or a sexual assault, that the hospital said 'We cannot test you for these drugs.'”
While some hospitals have changed their protocols around drug testing, Feeney said there should be a consistent standard across the state.
"A person who has been involuntarily drugged at a nightclub or a bar or a house party shouldn't have to play hospital roulette — whether you're in the Berkshires, in Cambridge in Barnstable or in my district in Attleboro or in Boston — to find a hospital where you're going to be able to be tested for this, so you know what is in your system, so that you can seek the right treatment, be given the right resources, and then most importantly so that you can actually file a report, with evidence, with data, so that an investigation can start if you choose," Feeney said.
Feeney said there’s been an “alarming increase” in drink-spiking reports, and that many incidents likely go unreported. Police in Boston alone received 116 reports of drugged drinks last year, he said.
Boston police have issued multiple community alerts in the past several months, advising bar patrons and partygoers to keep an eye on their beverages, watch out for their companions and report any incidents where drugs like gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, ketamine or rohypnol — commonly called "roofies" — might have been slipped into their drinks. Bars, colleges, and social media groups have also been drawing attention to the issue, encouraging people to protect themselves and know the signs of these drugs, such as disorientation or temporary paralysis.
Lawmakers are also considering the problem from another angle. The state Senate, in its version of a $56 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts next month, included $300,000for the Department of Public Health to launch a public awareness campaign about the dangers of spiked drinks, study prevention strategies and buy a bulk order of drink test kits to distribute to bars, restaurants and clubs.
Upcoming negotiations between the House and Senate will determine whether that funding makes it into the final version of the budget.
