Drink test kits to be offered to bar patrons

1.00pm

After a spate of drink spikings in Rotorua bars, patrons are to be offered drink spike self-test kits.

Police say drink spiking is becoming rife, particularly in tourist towns, with the number of reports in Rotorua and Taupo increasing during the past year.

Last week a woman lost several personal items, had her clothes torn, and said she was unsure how she got home after drinking at the Kiwi Spirit Bar .

In another incident , an Auckland woman who had been drinking at Fuze Bar told police she had only a few sips of a drink before feeling giddy and sneezing uncontrollably. She said she could not walk and vomited at hom e.

The drink spiking self-test kits -- which sell in Australia for $9.95 for six tests -- are being offered to bars by an Australian promoter.

After a few drops of drink are placed on a card, it changes colour if the drink has been spiked.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)