The case in summary Many young people fear being drugged in the city and at parties. Five girls from Breivang High School in Tromsø have started the youth company Kopp Lock to prevent doping. Vekter in Tromsø believes doping is a widespread problem in the city’s nightlife. The police and RUSinfo believe that doping occurs less often than many fear, and that many cases may be due to a high degree of self-inflicted intoxication. A study from 2023 showed that only 7 out of 57 people who suspected that they had been drugged had results for substances other than alcohol in their urine. Figures from a national study show that only 1 in 10 seek help after abuse, which may indicate large numbers in the dark. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Stories of involuntary doping in the drinks have reached five 17-year-old girls at Breivang high school in Tromsø. news meets four of the girls at the school during lunch. They find that many people are afraid when they are at a party or out on the town. – Many people sit with a napkin over their drink, says Wiola Wilmi, who is one of the founders behind the youth company Kopp Lock. SCARY RUMORS: The girls tell of a scary drinking culture, now they want to make nightlife safer. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / news Through an entrepreneurial subject at school, the girls have started the company, and they want to create a product that will make outdoor life safer. PROTECTION: Tomine Thommasen shows how the Kopp Lock works. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe The product is a scrunchie that has a built-in cloth lid with an opening for straws. The cloth lid can be removed from the scrunchie and placed on the glass. Kopp Lock is not a new invention, but the girls will launch the lid with a new twist, where they market against Russian groups, among other things. The hair knit is a home-made prototype, but the girls are working to find a company that can be responsible for further production. – The idea is that you can put the lid in the scrunchie so it is not visible and you can hide it, explains Tomine Thomassen. PROTOTYPE: The girls have sewn their own prototypes. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / news 17-year-olds are not old enough to drink alcohol themselves, but the product has several uses. – It can also protect against flies and dust, says Wilmi with a smile. NAPKIN OVER THE DRINK: Wiola Wilmi says that they have observed that several people sit with a napkin over their drink at a party. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / news Kopp Lock already has a collaboration with the pub Gründer in Tromsø. Managing director Kevin Jacobsen believes the cap can be a measure to stop doping. SEES THE NEED: Kevin Jacobsen, general manager at Gründer in Tromsø sees a need for products like Kopp Lock to be used. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe – We see that it happens from time to time, that there is someone who tries to sneak something into the drink, especially to the girls. – So the need is there because unfortunately it happens, says Jacobsen. HIDDEN IN A KNIT: The lid is hidden in a scrunchie. Here in one of the prototypes the girls have made themselves. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / news Do you see a need for such a lid? Yes, absolutely No, it will be too hysterical Maybe, I don’t know completely Show result Heartbreaking stories Security guard Hanne Stamnes says that she thinks people are drugged in the city every weekend. She has worked as a security guard since her 20s and has extensive experience from the nightlife in Tromsø. – There are some heartbreaking stories we hear. She says that when she sees girls lying on the toilet floor with their skirts up on their stomachs, she gets very worried. – Then the alarm goes off with us as watchmen. Stamnes believes the purpose behind doping is to commit sexual assault. HEARTBREAKING STORIES: Hanne Stamnes has long experience as a security guard in Tromsø, and has seen and heard many heartbreaking stories from young people in the city. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / news But how often does someone get drugged? Cecilie Hagemann, associate professor at NTNU and senior physician at St. Olav’s hospital, has carried out studies on the connection between substance abuse and abuse. The study she carried out in 2023 showed that only 7 out of 57 people who suspected that they had been drugged had results for other substances in their urine. – None of these 7 were found to have any typical date rape drugs, explains Hagemann. This is what you do if you suspect that you have been drugged Take a urine sample, it is the best way to confirm that you have ingested something other than alcohol. Certain substances are out of the body after 24 hours from the time you ingested the drug. The substance GHB can be out of the body after 12 hours. So be quick to take the urine sample. You can do it at home, pee in a clean glass, cover with plastic wrap or similar and store it in the fridge until you can deliver it to the doctor or emergency room. Then you secure potential evidence. Look out for each other, make sure people get home safely, and don’t let your friend sleep alone if you suspect he’s been drugged. The same also applies if people are heavily intoxicated. Contact the emergency center if you suspect that you or someone you know has been drugged. Sources: Sturla K. Naas Johansen, section leader in RUSinfo Cecilie Hagemann, associate professor at NTNU and senior physician at St.Olavs hospital She says that of her patients who visited the abuse center within 12 hours, 85 per cent had tested positive for alcohol. They had an average blood alcohol level of 1.9 when the assault took place. RESEARCH ON DRUGS AND ABUSE: Cecilie Hagemann has researched the connection between drugs and abuse. Photo: Åsne Myklebust – It is probably just as likely that they themselves have miscalculated their own intake limit and have been exploited in their vulnerable situation. But those who turn to the abuse centers are in the minority. According to the NKVTS study, only 1 in 10 approached the healthcare system urgently after suspecting abuse. They know nothing about people who may have been drugged without having been raped, says Hagemann. – Can it lead to dark figures? “Unfortunately, we know little about those who do not contact the abuse centres,” says Hagemann. Are you afraid of getting drugged on the town? Yes, I’m reluctant to go out because of it No, it doesn’t happen to me Yes, I’ve experienced being drugged No, but I’m always careful No, but I know someone who has been Doped Show result Sturla K. Naas Johansen in RUSinfo believes that alcohol can be just as effective a sedative as other drugs. – You can just as well drug people down with alcohol and get exactly the same effect, and you will get an equally helpless victim. ALCOHOL CAN BE JUST AS BAD: Section leader in RUSinfo, Sturla K. Naas Johansen believes that alcohol can be just as effective a doping agent as other drugs. Photo: RUSinfo / Velferdsetaten, Oslo municipality – There is nothing worse than having a pocket lark with strong alcohol in your inner pocket that you just quickly splash into someone’s drink, he says. Naas Johansen believes that it can also be easy for many to accept alcohol from others. People can become less careful as they become more intoxicated, he believes. One should also not be fooled by appearances, he believes. – The fact that people are handsome or look good is no guarantee that they are not bad people. Statistics on doping In 2023, RUSinfo received 78 inquiries from young people who suspected that they had been doped. 20 of these were from men. Only 1 in 10 turned to the healthcare system urgently after assault, shows a study carried out by the National Competence Center on rape and traumatic stress in 2023. Many who suspect that they have been drugged have had a high blood alcohol level. 85 percent of Hagemann’s patients tested positive for alcohol when they visited the abuse center within 12 hours. They had an average blood alcohol level of 1.9 when the assault took place. Sources: RUSinfo Cecilie Hagemann, associate professor at NTNU and senior physician at St. Olav’s hospital WANT TO PREVENT: The girls want to realize the project on the production of a protective lid to keep over the drink at parties. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / news The concert in Germany did not turn out quite as Norwegian Tone Elisabeth Irgens had envisioned. Read more about the case here. Want to make it gender neutral The girls in the youth company in Tromsø want to make the cap in several colours, and at the same time make the product as gender neutral as possible. The lids must be made from sustainable materials, and be part of ethical production. – We want to make it possible for people to put logos on it, for example if you have a Russian group you want to wear, says Wilmi. Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue
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Young people against drugs in the drink – made scrunchie – news Troms and Finnmark
