California bars to offer tests to detect Roofies – Times Herald Online

Starting July 1, California bars and nightclubs will be required to have drug testing kits on their premises. Under the new law, patrons who suspect their drink has been compromised will be able to request or purchase a kit. (Photo illustration by Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

Coasters, tip-proof lids, and keeping drinks in sight have long been the best practice to avoid being covered. But even these unfortunately fail to prevent drink adulteration.

Soon, bar and nightclub patrons will have access to a new drug prevention method in the form of drug testing kits.

Starting July 1, bars and nightclubs in California will be required to have drug testing kits on their premises. Under the new law, customers who suspect their drink has been contaminated will be able to request or purchase a kit.

The deployment of these kits comes after AB 1013 was introduced early last year and went into effect this fall. The on-site kits will help detect the presence of date rape drugs like ketamine and GHB, helping victims avoid the catastrophic consequences of undetected drug use.

“It’s definitely a smart move,” said Lynette Brown, a bartender at Gentleman Jim’s in Vallejo. Brown said the kits will be up and ready at the bar for their July 1 launch, available for purchase for $5 each.

“It’s definitely a risk that everyone takes when you go to a bar, that something will happen to your drink if you leave it unattended.” When customers aren’t being careful, Brown says she often steps in to move an unsupervised drink behind the bar.

“We’re always watching their backs,” she said.

Brown’s know-how comes from his years as a bartender, but also from his personal experience. Years ago, Brown found herself the target of a roof.

“I went from having a few cocktails to being pinned to the ground,” she recalls, adding that it’s “a real threat.”

As in Brown’s case, roofing is so debilitating that victims often don’t know it’s happening until it’s already happened.

“A lot of times when I’ve experienced this with people at a bar, it’s only in retrospect,” Lynette said. “Afterward, they come back and say, ‘Oh no, I felt so bad,’ or ‘Something happened to me after I left here.’ So having it there might be a good idea.”

Drug victims aren’t the only ones trying to retrace their steps. Lynette recalls one instance where a police officer went to a bar to investigate a drug case that left a woman hospitalized. The woman had been to Gentleman Jim’s and another bar the night before and suspected she had been assaulted at some point.

In the nine years that Alyssa Pruitt worked as a bartender at Cheers in Vacaville, she said there was never a criminal investigation involving a date rape drug.

Yet Pruitt’s career was influenced by his own experience drinking a medicinal drink.

Seven years ago, Pruitt left her day shift at Cheers and went to another bar for a drink. “The only two customers I had followed me to this bar,” Pruitt said. She ordered a beer and went to the bathroom. When Pruitt returned, the man who had followed her had paid for the drink.

“He insisted I drink it,” said Pruitt, who remembers taking a sip but not feeling very well. Shortly after, she gave the rest of her drink to a friend who ended up in the hospital.

Pruitt remembers passing out in an alley and using a drug test strip she had purchased years before. “It was ketamine and MDMA,” Pruitt said.

Since that event, Pruitt has become even more vigilant about women’s soft drinks “because my experience could have been a lot worse and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

“Every time someone leaves a drink unattended at the bar and goes out to smoke, I cover it with a coaster,” Pruitt said. Even during the day shift, before the evening crowds create a noisier environment, Pruitt is aware of where people’s drinks are.

“You shouldn’t believe that someone would do such a thing, for example, put something in your drink. But you can’t afford to be naive in any situation, whether you’re alone or meeting someone for the first time,” Pruitt said.

Having seen firsthand how a drug test can provide immediate proof of the presence of a spiked drink, Pruitt is happy that they are becoming more accessible.

“I think it’s a very useful tool,” Pruitt said. “You can’t allow yourself to think that everyone is like you, that they will treat others kindly and that they will not have malicious intentions.”

The vaccine rollout on July 1 is the next step in preventing cases of poisoning, but Brown hopes the test will help make that happen. “A definitive answer could go a long way toward trying to solve the problem and identify when and if this is happening right away,” Brown said.