Trade 'burying head in the sand' over drug rape danger
Pub chains have done nothing to help reduce the dangers of drink spiking according to a leading spokesman on date rape.
In a bitter attack Graham Rhodes, chief executive of Roofie, a charity that deals with drug rape and sexual abuse, criticised pub chains for showing no interest in the problem. He says that pub companies should be using some of their profits to fund awareness campaigns.
"We have lobbied drinks companies and brewers for the past eight years and nothing has happened," he said. "We are still waiting for a national chain to come along and pick up this challenge and tackle it."
His comments follow the results of an undercover police operation in an Essex nightclub. Plain-clothes police officers tested 200 drinks for date rape drugs, including tranquillisers, GHB and ketamine and discovered four per cent of drinks were spiked. The drugs are known to cause, among other things, blackouts and memory loss.
Mr Rhodes warned that training of staff in pubs needed to improve or there could be serious consequences. He said: "Staff have to learn how to deal with someone who has been spiked or thinks their drink has been spiked. If this doesn't happen a customer is going to sue. But the big boys are not doing anything. Surely they are responsible for public safety on their premises? By burying their heads in the sand they are ignoring that promise of public safety."
However, pub companies have rejected Mr Rhodes's claims. Nathan Wall, operations director of JD Wetherspoon, said: "Over the last couple of years we have built drug awareness into our training programme. We also had a small poster awareness campaign a couple of years ago. I think it is important to be vigilant but the general consensus from the police is that date rapes are a tiny percentage of overall rape cases. We don't want to strike fear into the hearts of every woman when they go out."
A spokeswoman for the Laurel Pub Company said: "The industry does need to work more closely together on this issue. We are creating some awareness posters for our Tavern venues and where possible we get the police involved in raising awareness."
Mark Hastings, spokesman for the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), said: "To say the industry is doing nothing on this issue simply isn't true. Any response needs to be in proportion to the issue. Before we leap off the deep end we have to recognise that the police themselves recognise that these tests are not foolproof and the drugs are often self-administered. The industry is rigorous in the way it approaches the drugs issue. The BBPA is about to reissue its guide on drug awareness."
