Spiking drinks (or food or even medication) became a felony in Tennessee at the beginning of the month.
The Tennessee General Assembly passed the law this past legislative session and Gov. Bill Lee signed it into law in late May.
Anyone caught spiking someone’s beverage, food, and even medication, could face anywhere between two to 12 years in prison. Plus, fines up to $5,000, according to the Adams and Reese law firm’s Last Call blog.
Prior to this legislation, Tennessee law only penalized adulterating consumable products if the perpetrator’s direct intent was bodily injury or death.
State Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) sought to expand this definition of spiking and added penalties to them, despite the overall intent.
Freeman also wanted to mandate that bars, restaurants, and other businesses to provide customers with free or low-cost drink testing devices (such as chemical strips) to check beverages for tampering. This proposal was removed from the final legislation.
National surveys show that young adults — particularly college students — face some of the highest risks of drink-spiking.
A 2016 study by the University of South Carolina found that 462 of more than 6,000 college students reported being drugged in the previous year. The largest majority of them (79 percent) were female. About 1.4 percent of respondent admitted to spiking someone else’s drink. The most commonly cited side effect was memory loss or blacking out.
Supporters of the new law say it has the potential to strengthen deterrence.
“I do think the bill will be helpful, at least to some limited extent,” said Sofia Su, a rising University of Memphis freshman. “It’s definitely a start.”
But Su thought penalties should be applied to anyone in possession of drink-spiking substances. Also, she thought penalties should be harsher for those convicted.
