New CA Law To Impact All Bars, Nightclubs In The State

A new law taking effect Tuesday, July 1, aims to protect Californians from drink spiking, a longstanding safety concern for bar-goers, especially women.

Assembly Bill 2375 will take a new step toward curbing instances where bar patrons are "roofied" by requiring nightclubs and bars across the state to provide lids for the drinks they serve.

The new rule is an amendment to the existing AB 2375, which took effect last year and required all drinking establishments to offer drink testing kits and hang signs that say "Don’t get roofied! Drink spiking drug test kits available here. Ask a staff member for details."

Beginning tomorrow, that sign must now make it clear that the bar also offers drink lids.

The new requirement will impact the state's roughly 2,400 bars and nightclubs.

Its lead author, Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), is a former nightclub owner and is currently a partner at three Southern California restaurants that serve alcohol. Lowenthal has penned several other anti-drink spiking bills that would impose new rules on bars to prevent spiking.

"People want to go out and enjoy themselves without having a bull’s eye on their back," Lowenthal told Easy Reader.

The assemblymember also told CalMatters last year that a rise in drink spiking has reached "crisis proportions.”

“The bars need to be involved,” he said, according to CalMatters. “Alcohol companies need to be involved. Patrons need to be involved looking out for each other. We need to be talking about it and creating this level of prevention. Because once somebody’s drink has already been spiked, it’s too late. So what can we do to prevent it from happening?”

While firm numbers to track the phenomenon are hard to pinpoint, a survey published in 2016 found that 8 percent of 6,064 students surveyed at three universities reported they'd had their drinks spiked with drugs, according to the American Psychological Association’s journal “Psychology of Violence.”

That's 462 students who said they believed they had been drugged. What's more, 83 reported that they had drugged someone or knew someone who had drugged another person. Women were more likely to be the victims of spiking and reported more negative consequences than men, the study reported.

"These data indicate that drugging is more than simply an urban legend," Suzanne C. Swan, PhD, of the University of South Carolina, said.

Drugs like Rohypnol, GBL, GHB and Ketamine have been listed by the Drug Enforcement Administration as substances that are used by perpatrators to facilitate sexual assault and rape.

"These substances make it easier for a perpetrator to commit sexual assault because they inhibit a person’s ability to resist and can prevent them from remembering the assault," the DEA says.

The DEA lists the following affects of these drugs, which can take hold quickly:

• Nausea
• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Difficulty breathing
• Feeling drunk when you haven’t consumed any alcohol or consumed very limited amounts
• Sudden increase in dizziness, disorientation, or blurred vision
• Sudden body temperature change that could be signaled by sweating or chattering teeth
• Waking up with no memory or missing large portions of memories