Police say drug-laced vapes are now among the ways offenders are spiking victims, with test kits often unable to detect them. Credit: Ales Munt / Shutterstock
Keeping a close eye on your drink has long been the main preventive measure against being spiked on a night out. Now police in London say that may not be enough as offenders are turning to drug-laced vapes and ordinary medicines too, a shift that changes what staying safe actually means for anyone drinking, dancing or vaping their way through a night out.
The Met’s cases show spiking is moving into homes
Somebody at a bar carefully keeps their glass in sight all night, but thinks nothing of taking a puff from a friend’s vape, or a stranger’s, being passed around while at a party. That’s the blind spot the Metropolitan Police says offenders are exploiting, and it’s why the old advice to just watch your drink no longer covers the full picture.
The Met recorded more than 2,700 spiking-related offences in London over the past year, up 20 per cent on the year before, with only 131 leading to a charge, caution or summons. More than half the victims were aged between 18 and 35, and officers say the venues themselves are changing too, with more incidents happening at house parties, in flats and in student accommodation rather than the bars and clubs where people are usually on guard.
Drug-laced vapes and everyday medicines are the new tools
Alongside traditional drugs including GHB (a sedative sometimes called liquid ecstasy) and scopolamine, offenders are increasingly using vapes and vaping liquids laced with THC (the psychoactive compound in cannabis) or Spice (a synthetic cannabinoid), as well as over-the-counter antihistamines and travel-sickness tablets. Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson said the nature of spiking is changing as offenders widen the range of substances involved.
This completely changes the game, as a vape or a stick of gum hasn’t usually carried the same instinctive warning as an open drink. However, the effect on a victim from one of these new methods, drowsiness, confusion and memory loss, can now be every bit as severe.
Why a drink-testing kit can’t catch everything
It’s a brand new problem facing people on a night out, who previously could use drink-spiking test kits or testing straws as their safety net. The Met is also warning that commercial self-testing kits sold online often can’t detect the prescription and over-the-counter medicines now being used.
It’s a limitation EWN has seen up close already. NarXcup, the Madrid start-up behind an intelligent ice cube that changes colour and turns solid the moment it touches a spiked drink, currently only detects scopolamine, and a version that catches more substances isn’t expected until 2027. No single product on the market, in other words, can promise complete protection, whatever it’s slipped into.
Spain already takes chemical submission seriously
None of this is evidence that vape spiking is rising in Spain specifically. This is a London police warning based on their own cases and data, not a study, and it’s worth reading as a changing pattern to watch rather than a documented trend in the UK and Spain.
Even so, the relevance is real. The UK government’s own travel advice for Spain already flags drink spiking and ‘date rape’ drugs including GHB, telling visitors to buy their own drinks and keep them in sight. Across the pond, Canada’s travel advisory goes further, warning against accepting snacks, drinks, gum or cigarettes from new acquaintances, since they may contain drugs. Andalucía, meanwhile, has run its own sumisión química (chemical submission) protocol since 2023, coordinating hospitals, forensic doctors and police, proof that this is an established concern here.
Spain’s busy nightlife, festivals and shared villa parties, where a vape is often passed round a group without a second thought, are exactly the setting where that threat matters most.
What to do if something feels wrong on a night out
If you or someone with you suddenly feels unusually drowsy, confused or unwell, tell a trusted friend or a member of venue staff straight away and don’t let that person leave alone. Where possible, hold onto the drink or vape involved rather than throwing it away, since it may be the only evidence available.
In Spain, call 112 in an emergency or get to a hospital’s emergency department as soon as you can. The Met says some substances only leave a narrow window for forensic testing and urges reporting within the first 12 hours, so acting quickly, and encouraging a friend to do the same, gives any investigation its best chance.
