Spiking will become a new criminal offence punishable by up to ten years in prison under new laws.
Hundreds of bar and pub staff have also been trained to spot spiking as part of a drive to keep people safe on a night out.
Home Office Minister Jess Phillips said: “Every time I speak to survivors of spiking, I hear how these cruel attacks have shattered their confidence and stolen their sense of safety.”
The new law will be part of the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill coming to Parliament next week, which Labour says will also contain measures to fight knife crime and stop sick perverts using the internet for child abuse.
Giving someone a substance such as drugs without their knowledge or against their will, known as spiking, is already a crime under existing legislation such as a law against “administering poison”. But there have been long-standing calls for a specific offence.
One YouGov poll found 11% of women and 6% of men said they had been spiked. A third of women and one in five men have been spiked or know someone who has.
While many offences involve a substance such as tranquillisers being slipped into a drink, the National Police Chiefs Council reported 1,032 cases of people being injected with a needle between the beginning of September 2021 and the end of December 2022, most of which occurred in October 2021. The peak in incidents coincided with the start of the university year.
Hundreds of bar staff across 104 venues in England and Wales have already completed vital spiking training, with thousands more signed up to start in the coming weeks.
The £250,000 government-funded programme teaches venue staff how to spot warning signs of spiking crimes, prevent incidents and gather evidence. It aims to train 10,000 staff at pubs, clubs and bars for free by April 2025.
Ms Phillips said: “Within days of launching our training programme, hundreds of venues are already equipping their staff with the skills to spot and stop these attacks. Backed by clear new legislation in the Crime and Policing Bill, our message to perpetrators is clear - we will catch you and you will face justice.
“No one should live in fear of having their drink spiked on a night out and these measures mark a crucial step in tackling spiking and delivering our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.”
During her recent visit to Thames Valley Police, the Minister saw first-hand the force’s innovative pilot of specially trained spiking sniffer dogs. These specialist dogs are being trialled as a preventative measure, patrolling nightlife areas with plain-clothes officers to intercept those carrying banned substances before they enter pubs, bars and clubs.
Other measures in the Bill include making it an offence to use AI to create images of child sexual abuse, and stricter rules for online retailers selling knives.
