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Neil Alexander: Authorities must commit to stopping the spike in spiking

Nobody should have to worry about being drugged on a night out. (Photo: cdrin/Shutterstock)
Nobody should have to worry about being drugged on a night out. (Photo: cdrin/Shutterstock)

Spiking is the dark side to Scotland’s nightlife.

Every year since I was a student in Glasgow, there have been more and more reports in the media of spiking. We need a national and local plan to prevent more tragedy from this crime now.

I enjoyed my time at university and being a student-elected vice president there. But one of the hardest things to look back on when I think of those days is just how many times people I knew were spiked.

I went to university in 2012, 10 years ago. Yet, despite all of the attention drawn to the crime across the country, there has been no real action taken.

Last year, along with the beginning of a “normal” return to usual student life since the start of the pandemic, there were claims across the country of spiking by injection. Reports came from all of the traditional student cities, including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee.

Police Scotland found “no evidence” of spiking by injection. Could localised policing, with better connections within local communities, have meant a different result?

This isn’t just a ‘big city’ problem

This horrible crime has a previous history in Scotland of leading to tragedy. In 2017, 18-year-old Greg Mackie was found dead in Edinburgh College, after someone spiked his drink. His parents have since set up the charity and support network Spike Aware UK, a group that needs the full backing of local and national governments.

How much more personal tragedy will it take before something gets done to stop the spike in spiking?

Now is the time of year where students are returning to their traditional hubs, and that includes where I live, in Elgin. We need a local plan now to prevent spiking.

The Scottish Government and Moray Council need to put forward a national and local plan, as this isn’t just a “big city” problem. There have already been reports this summer of spiking in Elgin, and I am really worried that cases will increase with students coming back to the college here.

Spiking has been an issue in Scotland for many years. (Photo: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson)

It’s been a long time since my early student days, enjoying the nightlife of Glasgow. Drug deaths in Scotland are already a national scandal. How much more personal tragedy will it take before something gets done to stop the spike in spiking?

I only hope that every new student has a great time on the start of what is a very exciting journey, and I hope that journey is a safe one.

Maybe, one day, anyone going to a bar or nightclub won’t need to worry about someone else putting drugs in their drink or injecting them in their arm. I’m sad to say, Scotland has ignored this problem for far too long.


Neil Alexander is a Liberal Democrat, a member of the Scottish Executive Committee for the Lib Dems, and a community councillor for Elgin

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