As the conversation around drink-spiking and date-rape drugs continues to stoke the emotions of residents across Greater Victoria, Victoria council members discussed a motion to raise awareness of the problem "that is just unacceptable," in the words of Coun. Matt Dell.
Recently, the conversation entered the limelight when the 2021 death of 18-year-old Samantha Sims-Somerville, who ingested a lethal dose of the well-known date-rape drug GHB, was deemed a homicide by the Coroner's Service of B.C.
Additionally, this month, a 16-year-old girl and her mom spoke with local media about her experience allegedly being drugged at a party.
At the Nov. 21 meeting, Victoria police chief Del Manak spoke about Somerville's death, which was first ruled as an accidental overdose before it was reclassified in early November.
"This is an extremely tragic situation," he said. Manak explained that investigations like this can be tough, and some evidence, including second or third-hand evidence, can't always be admissible evidence to the court.
He also mentioned that though the coroner's office deemed Somerville's death a homicide, there may not be enough evidence to prove anyone's culpability.
"We aren't doubling down. This is an extremely serious case with just a horrific outcome and we're doing everything we can," Manak told the council. "I can't make up the evidence though, right? The evidence is the evidence and the courts will decide, not on a balance of probabilities, but on beyond a reasonable doubt if there's enough evidence that meets the charge-approval standard."
Following the re-classification of Somerville's case, an emailed statement from VicPD said they have since requested more information about why the coroner reclassified the death. In the meantime, "out of an abundance of caution," they have forwarded the case to the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, which looks after all suspicious deaths and homicide cases, for review.
As part of the meeting, council members put forward a motion to request an update from VicPD, the Greater Victoria School District, and the provincial government about any efforts being undertaken to raise awareness and prevent the use of date-rape drugs like GHB or Rohypnol.
"What are we doing in Victoria about these crimes? What can city council do about these crimes? And likewise, what are high schools doing about these crimes? What are our not-for-profits, our social services agencies doing about these drugs? And what is VicPD doing?" asked Dell.
Dell explained he recently talked to nightclub owners in the city, who said that they put up awareness posters, have safe drink spots where people can leave their drinks and offer free lids to cover the top of drinks, though other council members felt that it isn't enough.
"I think we are doing our due diligence to let parents and victims know we're on their side and we want to do everything we can to educate the community and make sure that everything that could happen to prevent this is happening; that when there is a case, that charges are laid when they need to be laid that we're not just letting this slip through the system," Coun. Krista Loughton said.
Stacey Forrester, a co-founder of Good Night Out, whose goal is to create safer spaces and prevent sexual violence in Vancouver and Victoria's nightlife, says suspected drink spiking is not a rare sight for their street-teams, which works in the cities' entertainment districts on Friday and Saturday nights.
"A big part of our work is actually educating the public, not just on signs of drink spiking, but signs of predatory behaviour," Forrester explained in an interview in the summer. "We can only saturate women so much with 'cover your drink, don't leave it alone, don't [take] drinks from strangers.' Whereas, we need to educate bar staff and patrons, especially men, on signs that someone is being predatory."
She explained red flags to watch for in bars and nightclubs include individuals targeting the most intoxicated person in the room, lingering around unattended drinks, buying drinks with a sense of entitlement or expectation, and trying to separate an intoxicated person from their friends.
"Good Night Out has a three-hour training that includes all aspects of nightlife safety, including preventing drink spiking," Forrester said. "Talking about drink spiking is really important, but we also have to be aware that the most commonly used drug to render people incapacitated is alcohol. It just doesn't make the headlines."
Coun. Stephen Hammond explained that he didn't support the motion because he felt it would be a waste of time for the province, the school district and VicPD to put a report together. He thought it would be better to encourage the parties to make sure people are being educated about the issue.
"What I want is for the school district and for the police to be educating young men that they have no right over the bodies of young women, nor do they have the right to drug young women," Hammond said. "I would also prefer they spend the time educating young women about the harms, and that tragically, today, you can never leave a drink alone or out of your sight."
The motion passed, with Hammond and Coun. Marg Gardiner voting against.
