Drink spiking: updates and call to action
Since August the newly formed SafeBears Sexual Violence & Sexual Harassment Committee (SB-SVSH) has been diligently addressing the risk of predatory drugging, commonly known as drink spiking. The urgency of this work was highlighted in mid-September when a WarnMe email alerted campus to multiple instances of sexual and aggravated assault via spiked drinks at a Southside residence.
The committee now has some updates, including a quick and easy way for YOU to make a difference.
TAKE ACTION! Tell the UC Regents to address drink spiking
Beginning next fall, Cal State and California Community College students will get access to free drink testing strips at their campus health centers, thanks to Assembly Bill 1524, one of several anti-drink spiking laws sponsored by Long Beach Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal.
But this bill does NOT automatically protect UC students, due to the University of California’s political autonomy. The UC Regents, the UC’s governing body, must voluntarily adopt it.
Following a meeting with Member Lowenthal’s office, SafeBears organized parents to speak in support of AB 1524 during public comments at the Nov 12-14 Regents meeting and/or to comment by email. In addition, SB-SVSH committee chairperson Elena Salazar made a persuasive case for AB 1524 in a letter signed by the SafeBears board.
Some parents have already sent emails (thank you!), and now we need even more voices! Please take a minute to contact the UC Regents at regentsoffice@ucop.edu. Here’s a template, which you can personalize if you wish:
I am the parent of a UC Berkeley student and a supporter of SafeBears, a nonprofit organization working to make UC Berkeley safer for students.
For the reasons stated in SafeBears’ Nov 15 letter to the Regents, I urge you to adopt a systemwide policy of voluntary compliance with Assembly Bill 1524. This new law requires Cal State and California Community Colleges to provide free drink testing devices at their campus health centers, and to advise students of their availability – thus educating students about predatory drugging and what they can do to protect themselves. UC students deserve the same information and risk reduction tools that will be available next fall to their college peers.
SafeBears, let’s get this done!
PartySafe at Cal will strengthen its predatory drugging education
City of Cambridge, Mass., public health poster warning bar patrons about drink spiking
UC Berkeley needs to do more to educate students about predatory drugging: what it is, strategies for avoiding it, and how to respond if you think it’s happened to you or your friend. PartySafe at Cal — a Berkeley University Health Services action campaign that works to reduce alcohol-related risks and harm — is clearly not focusing on the issue, a review of the PartySafe webpage shows.
SafeBears met with UC Berkeley administration to discuss this topic, and the good news is that campus agrees it needs to do better. We expect to get further details on their efforts soon and will share when we do.
Meanwhile, here are the main suggestions SafeBears made for improving PartySafe education on this pressing issue:
Improve PartySafe Toolkit Party Goer Checklist and Party Thrower Checklist: incorporate advice on minimizing the risk of predatory drugging into both checklists (as an example, see Stanford’s Title IX website).
Create a printable Graphic about predatory drugging, similar to the PartySafe Graphics on other topics, and encourage party throwers to post them in key locations (see poster above as example).
Update the 2017 PartySafe “What if I think I’ve been drugged?” resource with current information and more visually appealing graphics, and make it discoverable on the PartySafe website (read the SafeBears guide here).
We also discussed the need for UC Berkeley to prepare now for complying with AB 1524. This law, if adopted by the UC Regents, will require (1) free drink testing devices at the campus health center and (2) making students aware of the availability of the devices, by, for example, including that information (and by extension education about predatory drugging) in new-student orientation.
Our vision for Fall 2025
The SB-SVSH committee is working toward this attainable vision for Fall 2025:
Drink testing devices available for free at the Tang Center
Predatory drugging awareness as part of Golden Bear Orientation
Robust PartySafe educational materials to warn and inform
Want to volunteer? Email sb-svsh@safebears.org
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