Long Beach bars can now offer their patrons tests to detect whether their drinks have been spiked with drugs, and this practice may become a state requirement due to a bill written by Long Beach’s State Assembly Member.
The City of Long Beach has distributed 20,500 test kits to local establishments since the beginning of the month in an effort to combat illegal drink spiking. A list of the 32 locations that have the test kits will be available on the City’s website soon, the Department of Health and Human Services said in an email to the Signal Tribune.
These efforts are part of the SipSafe LB program, approved unanimously by the City Council in December 2022 and launched earlier this month. The program’s goal is to combat the use of “date rape drugs” in Long Beach.
Common date rape drugs that the test kits can detect include GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) and ketamine.
District 69 Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal created AB 1013, a bill that would require establishments with a Type 48 liquor license, usually given to bars and nightclubs, to offer drink testing kits to their customers for sale.
“The under-reported epidemic of drink spiking or roofying continues to plague California and the world. Unfortunately, drink spiking is often used to facilitate the commission of other crimes, such as sexual assault and rape. While anyone can have their drink spiked, the targets of this act are all too often women and LGBTQ+,” Lowenthal said in a public statement.
“Although drink spiking can occur in almost any setting, it is more common in bars and nightclubs that serve alcoholic beverages. Type 48 licensees are the primary operators of these types of establishments.”
AB 1013 has already been passed by both the state senate and assembly. It went to Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 12, and a representative from Lowenthal’s office told the Signal Tribune he has until Oct. 14 to approve or veto it.
A 2015 study of 390 patients admitted to a San Francisco hospital’s rape treatment center found evidence that one third of the sexual assault cases involved the use of a date rape drug.
The concerns surrounding date rape drugs came into sharp focus for the local community in 2021, when local residents protested the opening of the bar JP23 in Long Beach after a woman told police she was drugged at its Fullerton location and later sexually assaulted.
The reported rape was followed by an outpouring of anonymous netizens sharing similar stories. The Long Beach City Council ended up denying JP23 a business license for unrelated noise complaints and criminal citations.
For more details on SipSafe Long Beach and to request drink safety test kits, visit longbeach.gov/SipSafelb.
