In the early hours of a December morning, Jessica* unexpectedly wakes up on a friend's couch.
She has no memory of what happened after about 6pm the night before.
About eight hours have been stolen from her.
Fearing the worst, she starts piecing together every minute of that missing time.
"There's no easy way to put it. You're sort of thinking: 'have I been sexually assaulted?'," Jessica says.
Drink spiking is a crime in every Australian state and territory — but trying to get a prosecution is often easier said than done.
What started as after-work drinks on a Friday evening last summer quickly turned into a nightmare.
Jessica, aged in her late 20s, arrived at a popular bar in central Brisbane at about 5pm.
She only remembered the first hour of her time there — her colleagues later revealed to her what unfolded.
"Basically, what they told me is that I couldn't see anything, I couldn't use my body, I was completely paralytic," Jessica says.
Her friends carried her to an Uber and got her to safety.
"I've never experienced anything like that in my life," she says.
"I was unable to see anything, I was unable to use my body.
"It was terrifying."
The young woman quickly realised her drink must have been spiked, later recalling one odd moment when two men at the bar asked to shake her hand.
"They wanted to shake my opposite hand, my left hand — I remember feeling a bit confused and being sort of turned around," she recalls.
"I look back and think it would have been so easy, while I was shaking this guy's hand, for the other guy to put something in my drink."
After checking her phone and talking to friends, Jessica eventually accounted for the lost hours, confident she hadn't been assaulted.
"I just feel so lucky that I was with people I trusted and took care of me," she says.
'He asked me what spiking was'
A Queensland Police spokesperson says the service takes "all reports" of drink spiking seriously and investigates them "on a case-by-case basis".
But that wasn't Jessica's experience.
Despite feeling the sickest she'd ever been, she was determined to report the spiking and find out what substance had been used on her.
Later that Saturday morning, she called her mum, who picked her up and took her to a police station.
She described the response from the officer on duty as disappointing.
"The first question was: 'Well are you sure it's been a spiking? How much did you really have to drink?'," Jessica recalls.
She says she was made to feel it would be a drain on resources for an officer to take her to a hospital emergency department for tests.
"I didn't feel encouraged at all. If anything, it sort of felt the opposite way, that they really didn't want to do anything about it," she says.
Still not wanting to give up, Jessica found a last-minute appointment with a general practitioner so she could get a referral for drug screening.
"I'll never forget it," she says.
"He asked me what spiking was — he didn't know what spiking meant and I had to explain to him that I think someone's put something in my drink."
Jessica was dumbfounded when he said: "Well I don't really know what to test for".
The clock kept ticking — and by the time she made it to a pathology centre, almost 20 hours had elapsed and nothing was found.
The 24-hour window
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) says some substances leave the body quickly.
"Part of the challenge is that there is this window for testing," says the ADF's evidence manager Eleanor Costello.
"Somebody needs to ideally see police, see emergency services or their GP within the first 24 hours."
Ms Costello says studies show sedative-type drugs, including benzodiazepines, ketamine and GHB, are all used for drink spiking.
But alcohol is the most common because of its availability.
"People have used quite large quantities of alcohol — pure ethanol — to spike someone's drink in an amount that, when tested, is just not something somebody would normally consume," she says.
Drink spiking can also be plying someone with extra shots, or a stronger drink than they were expecting.
"It is a criminal offence, that's what people need to really remember," Ms Costello says.
'It can be difficult getting the evidence'
The ADF says unlawful drink spiking is a crime in every Australian state and territory. It became part of the Queensland criminal code in 2006.
The criminal code states a person who administers, or attempts to administer, a substance to another person without their knowledge with the intent to stupefy or overpower them is "guilty of a crime and is liable to imprisonment for 5 years".
Despite drink spiking being a standalone criminal offence, just seven people have been prosecuted for the crime over the past three years, according to the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
"Between 1 July 2021 and 24 May 2024, there were seven defendants in a Queensland court charged with drink spiking offences pursuant to s316A of the Criminal Code," a spokesperson says.
"These were lodged at courts in Brisbane, Ingham, Ipswich and Southport. Of the defendants, six were male and one was female."
The Queensland Sexual Assault Network is comprised of 23 non-government sexual assault services and is the peak body for sexual violence prevention in the state.
Its executive officer, Angela Lynch, says while "it can be difficult getting the evidence" to prosecute someone for drink spiking, the number of defendants charged in recent years seems "low".
"Certainly, the services in Queensland are saying that there has been an increase of drug-associated sexual violence and/or also drink spiking," Ms Lynch says.
"They're doing it because they know they can get away with it. If that changes and there is accountability around that, there may not be the incentive to continue."
In response to questions from ABC News, a Queensland Police Service (QPS) spokesperson said the points raised by the Queensland Sexual Assault Network are "under consideration for an integrated response".
"The QPS remains committed to refining and enhancing the police response to drink spiking reports, including improving processes for reporting, investigating matters in a timely manner, and holding perpetrators to account," a spokesperson says.
"Anyone who believes they have been spiked is encouraged to report the matter to police as soon as possible as this ensures police can obtain all relevant evidence in a timely manner."
Two decades since last comprehensive national review
Ms Costello, who works to minimise the harm caused by alcohol and other drugs in her role for the ADF, says drink spiking is underreported.
"There are a number of reasons why we don't have good data, but also we don't collect it in any sort of systemic way as well, which makes it difficult to have a really good sense nationally of what's going on," she says.
It has been 20 years since the last comprehensive national review of the crime.
As Jessica feared, spiking can be used to commit other offences.
"Unfortunately, about a third of cases, we suspect, are sexual assault related type cases, which is really alarming," Ms Costello says.
She says when people are out socialising there are a lot of "tiers when we can potentially intervene" to combat drink spiking.
"The more we educate people around how to look out for this, what it looks like, and if it does happen, how to go about reporting it and how quickly you need to do it [the better]," Ms Costello says.
Queensland Police Service was unable to provide information on the prevalence of spiking.
"Currently the way the QPS records its data, it does not allow for individual instances of spiking either by needle or by drink to be recorded through these terms and would be recorded under other crime classes," a spokesperson says.
"Offences such as rape, sexual assault or robbery could be enabled or facilitated by a spiking incident and therefore could be recorded as that offence."
Ms Lynch, who is also chair of the National Women's Safety Alliance, says the lack of police data is concerning.
"It's certainly a concern from a health and policy perspective that police aren't recording that information because it could be that you could be seeing hotspots or certain areas where this is occurring and therefore can put resources into those areas to try to prevent it," she says.
Queensland Health couldn't provide drink spiking numbers either — because hospitals don't gather that information.
"For patients presenting to an emergency department believed to be affected by drugs or alcohol, our staff will focus on how the drug is affecting a person's vital organs to ensure they receive the best possible care," a spokesperson says.
Jessica says she initially felt "a lot of shame" and "self-blame" about that night.
Months later those emotions have given way to a steely resolve.
She says having her drink spiked "feels like a violation" and she's pushing for change.
The young woman wants better advice and processes for individuals who've been spiked, and more effort from police to investigate the crime and prosecute offenders.
"It really reflects on the way that women's concerns are treated on a broader level," she says.
"It's just not good enough."
*Name has been changed to protect privacy.
Credits:
Reporter: Emma Pollard
Digital production: Melanie Vujkovic and Bridget Walker
Photography and videography: David McSween, Mark Leonardi, Stephen Cavenagh and Curtis Rodda