Important Safety Tips
Taking care of yourself
Don't drink beverages that you did not open yourself.
Don't share or exchange drinks with anyone. Don't take drink from a punch bowl. Don't drink from a container that is being passed around. If possible, bring your own drinks to parties. If someone offers you a drink from the bar at a club or a party, accompany the person to the bar to order your drink, watch the drink being poured, and carry the drink yourself. Don't leave your drink unattended while talking, dancing, using the restroom, or making a phone call. If you realize that your drink has been left unattended, discard it. Don't drink anything that has an unusual taste or appearance (e.g. salty taste, excessive foam, unexplained residue).
Watching out for your friends
Appoint a designated "sober" person when you go to parties, clubs or bars. Have a plan to periodically check up on each other.
If one of your friends appears very intoxicated, gets sick after drinking beverage, passes out and is difficult to awaken, seems to be having difficulty breathing, or is behaving in an uncharacteristic way, take steps to ensure your friend's safety. If necessary, call 911 for emergency medical assistance. If you see or hear that someone is "dosing" a drink or a punch bowl intervene. Confront the person, warn potential victims, discard the drink, and/or get help. Warn friends about high-risk situations, such as clubs where "dosing" is know to have occurred.
Signs that you may have been drugged
- If you feel a lot more intoxicated than your usual response to the amount of alcohol you consumed
- If you wake up very hung over, feeling "fuzzy", experiencing memory lapse, and can't account for a period of time after you consumed the drink
- If you feel as though someone had sex with you but you can't remember any or all of the incident.
Information from Rape Treatment Center, Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.
