For most people who go out to enjoy Long Beach’s nightlife, the worst they might wake up to is a hangover or an unplanned hookup.

But for some, their recollections of the evening may be hazy or nonexistent – and not because they drank too much.

In the past three years, Long Beach police took an average of about 25 reports annually from people who believed they’d been drugged while out socializing, possibly by something slipped into their drink, said Lt. David Frazier, who works in the department’s special victims section.

Local and state elected officials are trying to combat the problem of date rape drugs, often called roofies, to help people be safer when they go for a night out.

While it’s most commonly young women who are drugged, anyone could potentially be a victim, state Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal said, and he’s working on legislation he thinks could reduce the number of people affected by it.

One bill would make drink-testing devices available at alcohol-serving establishments, and another would criminalize the act of drugging someone on its own, regardless of whether the perpetrator attempted or committed sexual assault or another crime.

“It’s happening in dive bars all the way up to places like the Ritz Carlton, and remarkably, we don’t have mechanisms in place to prevent this – and we really need to,” Lowenthal said.

Long Beach also will be piloting a program city officials hope will give people another tool to stay safe: distributing free test strips that detect certain drugs in a beverage.

A common problem?

It’s difficult to find comprehensive, up-to-date statistics on the prevalence of drink drugging, but officials in at least two other states have recently taken action to address it.

In January, the Boston Herald reported a bill in the Massachusetts Legislature would create standard protocols for hospitals to test for date rape drugs if a victim thought they’d been drugged, even if there was no sexual assault.

And in 2019, a Charlotte, North Carolina, TV station ran a story about a bill that would make drugging someone’s drink a felony, regardless of whether any other crime was committed.

Several commonly used drugs, including ketamine and Rohypnol, have no color, taste or smell, so the target is unlikely to know their drink was spiked until the drug kicks in.

Signs of being drugged can include feeling dizzy, disoriented or sick; feeling drunk after having little to no alcohol; and waking up with few or no memories of the previous hours, according to information on the federal Drug Enforcement Administration website.

Frazier said in Long Beach’s case, the common thread in most reported incidents is that people were out drinking at some public place. He couldn’t say what percentage of people reporting being drugged also had been assaulted, but “generally there is some sort of additional crime associated with” the drugging – and that is often sexual assault.

It can be hard to determine someone was drugged if they wait to report the incident, Frazier said, because the drugs used usually pass through the victim’s system quickly.

Finding who spiked the drink may also pose challenges, said Matt Peterson, whose business group owns several Long Beach bars including Legends sports bar and Poor Richard’s.

Even with all the cameras many businesses have in place, he said, it’s like trying to catch a pickpocket. Peterson said there may have been isolated cases of drink spiking at his establishments, but he hasn’t gotten reports from customers and doesn’t believe it’s a widespread problem in the city.

Ron Hodges, who owns two locations of Shannon’s, also said it doesn’t seem like a big issue, but both men agreed they wouldn’t object if the city makes test kits available.

“Having patrons be aware, awareness of if you’re concerned, go ahead and here’s one of these strips – sure, why wouldn’t we do that,” Peterson said.

Trying to fix it

In early February, the Long Beach City Council voted to spend $25,000 on a pilot program to purchase the test strips and do some sort of outreach so people know about them.

How the strips would be distributed and other details are still being worked out. The program will be overseen by the city’s Health Department; officials there declined an interview request.

A helpful example may come from West Hollywood, which launched a similar program last fall and was cited by Long Beach’s police chief in a memo to the council about the issue.

So far, WeHo’s program has been well received by restaurant and bar owners and staff, said Paul Chavez, community engagement manager for the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The center works with the city on other harm reduction programs and was contracted to do outreach and distribute the drink test strips.

So far they’ve given out more than 12,000 of the test kits, which are available at 33 locations — restaurants, bars, and pharmacies, “any place that would be kind of appropriate to have a supply for community members to go and grab,” Chavez said.

The test strips are free, and some bars place containers of them out where people can see them and take some if they choose.

Chavez said he hasn’t heard from people using them, but the program is still new — but he does hear reasons it might be needed.

When LGBT Center workers are out promoting and explaining the program, people will often tell them about an experience they or someone they know had with being drugged, Chavez said.

“It’s been an educational process, kind of learning from the community how much of an issue it really is,” he said.

Lowenthal said he’s looking at a variety of ways state legislation could potentially deter drink spiking and keep people from falling prey to it, including having bars provide drink lids on request and making sure they provide test strips (for a reasonable fee to cover their costs).

He doesn’t want it to be burdensome to businesses, he said, but it can harm them as well when someone gets drugged at their establishment.

Long Beach Councilmember Cindy Allen, who asked the city to look into funding and creating the drink safety test kit program, said in an email that she’d like to see it start “a more active culture of awareness and safety in our restaurants, bars and clubs. The hope is that this contributes to a safer feeling for all people, especially women, as they enjoy our nightlife scene.”

Go out, stay safe

Long Beach will soon offer free test kits to ensure a drink wasn’t spiked with a substance such as a date rape drug. Here are some other tips people can use to protect themselves while out on the town:

  • Don’t leave your drink unattended or accept a drink from someone you don’t know.
  • If your drink tests positive for drugs or it looks or tastes odd, throw it out.
  • Alert someone you trust and get medical attention immediately if you think you’ve been drugged, especially if you notice a sudden change in body temperature, nausea, blurred vision or trouble breathing.
  • Stick with friends — leave the party or bar together, and if you think a friend is acting strangely or more intoxicated than the amount they drank, get somewhere safe and call for help.