A warning has been issued about the type of drug being used in spiking incidents as a surge has been reported in the numbers seeking help from the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Cork city.
90 people have reached out to the unit so far this year - which represents a doubling in the number of people seen in the same period last year.
Spiking fears are being linked to the increase in the number of people seeking help after they've experienced so called "missing hours".
Some people who are attending the unit are showing up with unexplained marks on their body, they report having a number of hours that they can't account for during the night and they fear they may have been spiked and are seeking urgent care.
Head of the Cork City Sexualt Assault Treatment Unit Margo Noonan told RedFM News that the drugs being used to spike, no longer lead to someone passing out, but rather make the victim euphoric instead.
"The drugs that are used now are very different drugs. If they're asleep and unconscious, with our new consent laws in Ireland since 2017, someone can't consent if they're intoxicated or asleep, or unconscious, so they needed a way to come around this.
"So now you have this drug that is very euphoric, very outgoing, they're very different to what they'd normally be. So you'd have someone who would normally maybe quiet, maybe reticent, going around hugging and kissing everyone, but they won't have any recollection of that.
"They will be very open to suggestion as to what they can do, but they'll have no recollection. They may remember having a second drink in a pub, and then know nothing else until they wake up the next day."
