Goldie gets a Mickey...nearly

Many years ago while training and working on club doors I trained with a guy called Goldie.

Goldie had an interesting tale to tell and that was while he was at work one night he put his drink down to go and settle down a couple of punters who were yelling at each other. Once he'd got them settled he came back to pick up his drink and a girl in a nearby table said "I don't think that's yours."

Goldie assured her it was and she replied "but I saw some other guy grab it a minute ago and play with it."

Goldie had his wits about him, immediately put the drink down, and later on had it analyzed (via complaints to the police etc) and they found it contained rat poison and LSD. The two guys yelling was a decoy designed to lure Goldie away so the poisoner could carry out his plan.

Now death threats and attempts aren't that rare if you bounce in any sort of heavy establishment...I myself have been stabbed numerous times and shot at twice that I'm aware of, but that was the first time I heard of a poisoning attempt. Immediately I took note of the lesson and made it a hard fast rule...if my drink left my hands even for a second, I'd leave it and go get another.

The reason I bring it up for everyone else is due to the proliferation of stories about "date rape" drugs being dropped in drinks etc. I personally know one woman and her friend who had champagne bought for them by some guys who did so upon learning it was one of the girl's birthday.

The girls in question drank the bubbly and left immediately after and were both violently ill on the way home to the point they had to stop the car and throw up. Given the only common thing they'd both ingested that night was the champagne they were of the opinion later that they had been slipped drugs in the drinks. It was a very common occurrence at the time in that bar in Charlotte so that was the conclusion. I ran it by some cop friends of mine who worked security nearby and they agreed it was the most likely explanation.

So, my suggestions are these a) women, don't accept drinks from strangers unless he buys it and you see the bartender make it. and b) if you put your drink down for whatever reason, buy another one rather than picking up the original. You just don't know what someone might have slipped in it.

Nick

PS: I had another mate, a forty year old businessman and teetotaler, who had his drink spiked by someone with an LSD tab. He nearly died during subsequent hallucinations etc and while in hospital they found out what it was. They tracked it back to one of his colleagues who thought it would be funny to see "Johnno" loosen up a little.