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Canberra Today 27°/29° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Drink-spikers face five years in jail

DRINK-spiking perpetrators face penalties of up to five years’ in prison and fines of up to $75,000 following the passage of the Crimes (Food or Drink Spiking) Amendment Bill 2017 in the Legislative Assembly today.

Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay.

“Canberrans deserve to feel safe on a night out. These new offences will deter people who seek to cause harm to others by placing intoxicating substances in their food or drink,” says Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay.

“These new offences are designed to encourage anyone considering endangering the health and safety of a member of our community by spiking their food or drink to change their actions.”

The Bill has introduced two new offences that address food or drink spiking.

The first applies where a person gives or causes the consumption of food or drink containing an intoxicating substance when the recipient is unaware of the presence of the substance.

It is now also an offence for a person to give or cause the consumption of food or drink containing more of an intoxicating substance, such as alcohol, than the recipient would reasonably expect it to contain.

Research conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology has estimated that 80 per cent of food or drink spiking victims are female, half of victims are aged under 24 and one third of incidents are linked to sexual assault.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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