The last time Sunshine Coast woman Louise Thorenfeldt went out in Maroochydore's Safe Night Precinct, she left in an ambulance.
She is one of the multiple women alleging their drink was spiked along the Sunshine Coast's biggest nightclub strip on Ocean Street.
Ms Thorenfeldt said she had only been out for an hour when she was carried out of a nightclub unconscious in late March.
"I realised I started to feel unwell, so I went to the bathroom, and then I passed out," she said.
"At this stage, I would have had maybe four drinks.
"I woke up in the ambulance with a 35-degree temperature, freezing cold, and I couldn't stop vomiting.
"I definitely know that my drink was spiked because I don't react like this normally."
Ms Thorenfeldt's friend Abby Nelson accompanied her in the ambulance.
"The hospital said she was already the fourth person they'd seen from Ocean Street that night that had been spiked," Ms Nelson said.
A Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service spokesperson said there was no data to confirm the incidents and drink spiking was a police matter.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) said it could not provide any data, but it took all reports of drink spiking seriously.
"[The QPS] investigates reports of drink spiking on a case-by-case basis, often in conjunction with other offences such as sexual assault," a spokesperson said.
Ms Thorenfeldt was not assaulted, but she reported her drink spiking incident to the police.
'It's dangerous'
Twin Waters mother Cara Mackay was with other school mums on what was meant to be a "casual night out" on Ocean Street in November when she said her drink was spiked with a sedative drug.
"I took about an hour to try and call an Uber home. I couldn't even function to do that," Ms Mackay said.
After still "not feeling right" several days after her night out, she took a chemist drug test, which she said confirmed her suspicions.
"I had heart palpitations, I was anxious and I felt violated, and that's when I knew something was wrong," Ms Mackay said.
Ms Mackay said she intended to report her incident to the police.
The ABC has spoken to other women and is aware of other suspected victims, but they did not wish to speak publicly.
A possible solution
Since the women's incidents, one of the precinct's most popular venues has started selling reusable lids at cost price to provide patrons with a physical barrier to prevent drink spiking.
The silicone lid fits tightly across the top of a glass or cup with a hole for a straw to prevent tampering.
Nightclub manager Jackson De Freitas said his team was doing all it could to ensure patrons were as safe as possible.
"It's next to impossible to try to catch these people, so this is the alternate that we have," Mr De Freitas said.
He urged other nightclub operators to implement similar initiatives and work together to clean up the precinct.
"Although we might see each other as competitors at times, we need to look after people that come on the street," Mr De Freitas said.
An intangible crime
The nightclub's owner Colin Cameron said drink spiking had plagued the industry for decades.
"It's a really sad day that we have to go to these measures, but something needs to change," Mr Cameron said.
"We've noticed it happening a bit more lately, and I'd say that's because of the borders reopening, and the street is becoming much more busy."
Mr Cameron said the nightclub was alerted to about one case of drink spiking in the precinct each year, but he feared the actual figure was much higher.
"I don't believe that it's just because we haven't heard that it's not happening," he said.
National Drug Research Institute professor Nicole Lee said drink spiking trends and data were limited because most cases were never reported.
"It means we don't have a good sense of how widespread it is for a start and who's being targeted particularly," she said.
"Often it'll happen at the bar where people ask for triple or double shots when they're buying someone else a drink, and so those kinds of things need to be prevented at the server.
"We don't actually know whether those lids work or not, but anything that would help to keep a drink kind of safe and not allow people to slip in something would be worth a try."
Police are calling for anyone who believes their drink was spiked to formally report it as soon as possible.
"This ensures police can obtain all relevant evidence in a timely manner and assists investigators to overcome any evidentiary challenges," the spokesperson said.
Ms Mackay said she did not want to stay silent.
