More safety drinking devices
posted Jul 6th 2004 1:47PM
After posting the Drink
Guard last week, a few kind readers pointed out a couple of companies' similar attempts to create
devices to combat drug-induced date rape. The first is Alcotop,
another UK creation, which are cheap (1.80/per) neon plastic bottle covers and look a bit like
Drink Guard's little raver cousin (the name
is a play on words with Alcopop, which refers to fruity malt drinks like Bacardi Silver). Alcotops don't have any
locking mechanism, but the idea is that the brightly-colored caps work as visual-deterrent alone. The
other is The Drink Safe
Coaster, which seems like the most practical product out of the three, and embeds two contamination tests
on two corners of a bar coaster, enabling the patron to test their drink up to two times each. Yes, it's sad that
we have to create elaborate devices to deter would-be date-rapists, but hey, thanks for trying.
<>[Thanks, Del and Neil T.] </>
Many thanks for making people aware of the drink spike world we are now living in. Can I bring to your attention that the alcotop is in fact £1 each and not £1.80 as stated in your article. I also know of a number of people who have used alcotop for upto three weeks, before misplacing it, making it a very affordable safety device.
This device was invented due to a family member being spiked and robbed. It is more of a crusade for others not to get spiked.
Dean Welsh
inventor of alcotop