New California Law Requires Bars & Clubs to Offer ‘Roofie’ Tests
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I’ve known far too many people who’ve had their drink roofied. Incapacitating someone and taking advantage of them is a horrendous and immoral thing to do, and unfortunately getting a drink spiked is way more common than we probably know. According to a 2016 study, nearly 8% of college students reported that they’d been drugged before. But we have no idea how many people have had their drink spiked and not reported it. Luckily, there’s a new California law the requires roofie test kits in bars and nightclubs.
Starting in July, most bars and nightclubs will be required to have roofie testing kits on hand so people can find out if their drink has been spiked.
As Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) told ABC7 News, “We have a crisis that’s taking place that’s resulting in sexual assault, that’s targeting primarily women and members of the LGBTQ communities.” Lowenthal is the one who introduced the bill AB 1013 early last year, and it became law in the fall.
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The bill requires bars and clubs to “test strips, stickers, straws, and other devices designed to detect the presence of controlled substances in a drink.” It will be up to the individual bar owners to decide whether they charge the customers for the tests “at a cost not to exceed a reasonable amount based on the wholesale cost”.
I’m so happy I live in a state that actually cares enough to pass such a law. I hope that other states see this and enact something similar. Be safe out there folks.
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