Cambridge's annual anti-spiking week, organised by Cambridgeshire Constabulary, launched this week. The event runs from the 15th to the 21st September.

The week overlaps with Anglia Ruskin University’s freshers week, but is held before University of Cambridge students return.

The campaign seeks both to raise awareness, as well as to “tackle spiking head-on,” with this year’s “spotlight” being on alcohol-based spiking.

This focus seeks to challenge narratives that spiking only involves “date rape drugs”. Spiking via alcohol is one of the most popular spiking methods and can carry equal risk.

Alcohol-based spiking includes topping up someone’s drink unknowingly, over-pouring the alcohol in their drink, or adding alcohol to someone’s non-alcoholic drink without them knowing.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary plans to clamp down more directly on spiking, with plans including officer patrols and holding perpetrators accountable.

The force says the emphasis of patrols will be on targeting and stopping the practice through “challenging suspicious behaviour”.

Inspector Ed McNeill stated the campaign’s focus is on “confronting perpetrators and making it clear that spiking has consequences. It has no place in Cambridgeshire.”

High-visibility and plain-clothed officers will patrol Cambridge and Peterborough city centres during the week.

The week is organised by the Constabulary in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University, Peterborough City Council, and Peterborough Positive.

This year’s campaign places emphasis on the criminal nature of spiking and the serious sentences that can follow conviction – with a particular emphasis on deterring and capturing perpetrators.

Featuring white and yellow writing in block capitals stating “Spiking is a crime,” the campaign’s promotion poster shows an image of two hands in hand-cuffs handing out a drink.

It also includes a QR code which links to a page on the Constabulary’s website detailing various “spiking myths”. The poster also features the line, “One spiked drink could result in up to ten years in prison. Is it worth it?”

Last November, a Varsity investigation found that in Cambridgeshire, on average, around 100 spiking cases are reported annually, although UK-wide survey data suggests over 90% of victims don’t report the crime.

Inspector McNeil continued: “Spiking is an incredibly serious offence, and alcohol-based spiking is no exception. It’s often dismissed or even seen as a joke, but it can leave victims confused, vulnerable and traumatised.

“If someone gives you a double when you asked for a single, that’s spiking. It’s about consent and removing that consent is a crime.

“We want people to know that if they’ve been spiked – whether with alcohol, drugs or both – it’s not their fault. We’re here to help, not to judge,” he added.

Varsity spoke to students who endorsed the campaign’s focus on perpetrators, with one third-year student telling Varsity: “I like that the campaign focuses on the consequences for perpetrators – it’s important to remember that people who set out to spike others are not people with a positive interest in the wellbeing of their community, and so campaigns to encourage people not to spike are, I believe, ineffective – we need to remind these people that they will face harsh measures for harming others.”

Another student echoed this, saying that they “welcome the shift in focus to consequences for perpetrators. Informing potential victims about the prevalence of spiking clearly isn’t doing enough.”

The same student expressed concern that, while they had not personally seen anyone be spiked in Cambridge, they “worry that it happens a lot and can happen to anyone at any time”.