UBC scientists invent stir stick that detects drugged drinks

University of B.C. researchers have invented a stir stick it said can detect if a drink has been spiked with common date-rape drugs.

The invention, dubbed Spikeless, could potentially be used at bars, clubs, and restaurants to combat drink spiking and help prevent sexual assaults.

It is made of a paper material that would draw a small amount of the beverage to a chemical-coated bioplastic tip that would change colour within 30 seconds if the drink has been contaminated with drugs like ketamine and GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, which are tasteless and odourless.

Spikeless was devised by Dr. Johan Foster, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at UBC, who had been working on a device that could test drinks for about 15 years. Over the last three years, Foster and his colleagues at UBC developed a prototype, focusing on making it accurate, simple and scalable so it can be adopted widely.

“It’s changing that narrative. Instead of me trying to sell it to you, or a consumer, why can’t we make venues safer?,” said Foster.

“That requires making it cheaper, more mass-produced. Can we make it cheap enough that there could be a box of Spikeless on every table and people can put it in every drink?”

There are similar inventions, such as cups, coasters and nail polish, that have been developed to detect if a drink has been contaminated. But they require the person to take a few drops and actively test the liquid, or it contaminates the drink with the chemicals used to test for the drugs.

These inventions also put the onus of prevention on the individual who is targeted for violence and harm, said Sasha Santos, an anti-violence activist and adviser on the project. “That’s a huge problem,” she said.

And from a prevention perspective, she added, it’s not enough. “If all we are doing is teaching an individual here and there we’re not really affecting the rate of perpetration.” 

Santos said their aim is to make Spikeless universally known and easily accessible at bars, clubs, parties, and festivals. It could also offer venues a potential “competitive advantage” if it makes customers feel safer. “As a business, to say ‘this business is Spikeless, you’re safe here,’ that’s pretty major.”

Police across Canada have issued numerous warnings about drugged drinks and RCMP in Nanaimo launched a public awareness campaign earlier this month after “several reports” of drinks being drugged at nightclubs.

The team at UBC is now preparing the product for real-world testing and testing with Health Canada. They are also launching a startup to scale production and commercialize the product.

“We want to sell a million of them, put it in every drink,” said Foster. “It does require scale, so we want to keep (the cost) as low as possible to make this social change, to make a difference.”

chchan@postmedia.com

With files from Canadian Press