Methodology

The DrinkCheck Spiking Atlas is a dated overview of drink spiking laws, help services and official figures. Every fact on an atlas page comes from a structured record that names its source and the date on which we last checked the value against that source.

Status definitions

In force in_force: The rule applies.
In force (pilot) pilot: A time-limited trial set out in an official act applies.
Enacted, not yet in force enacted_not_in_force: The rule has been enacted, but it does not apply yet.
Passed, awaiting signature awaiting_signature: The legislature has passed the bill; the required signature is outstanding.
In progress in_progress: A bill or a parliamentary instruction is in the legislative process. An instruction that is not a bill says so in its entry.
Stalled stalled: The legislative session ended without further progress.
Failed failed: The bill did not become law.
Expired expired: The rule has expired or was repealed.

Scope of criminal law entries

specific-offence: A criminal offence of its own for covertly administering a substance to another person.
aggravation: An express aggravating circumstance for covert administration within an existing offence.
related: Other criminal law with a connection to drink spiking, for example rules on controlled substances.

Legislative events

Introduced introduced: A bill or motion was formally introduced.
Committee stage committee: A committee dealt with the bill, for example in a hearing or a report.
Passed one chamber passed-chamber: One chamber of the legislature passed the bill.
Passed the legislature passed-legislature: The legislature as a whole passed the bill.
Signed signed: The act was signed by the person or body whose signature it requires.
Promulgated promulgated: The act was officially promulgated or published.
Entered into force in-force: The rule took effect.
Amended amended: The rule was amended.
Repealed repealed: The rule was repealed.
Expired expired: The rule ended at the end of its term.
Failed failed: The bill was rejected or did not pass.
Withdrawn withdrawn: The bill was withdrawn.
Session ended session-ended: The legislative session ended without a final decision on the bill.
Court ruling ruling: A court decision affected the rule.
Pilot started pilot-start: A time-limited trial began.
Pilot ended pilot-end: A time-limited trial ended.

Sources

Every value names its source. We accept only the source categories below, each for specific kinds of values. Press reports and estimates by companies are never used as evidence.

law: Legislatures, official gazettes, statute portals and courts. Accepted for legal entries, their history and the summary of general criminal law.
gov: Ministries, police, statistics offices and health authorities. Accepted for all values; official figures come from this category only.
operator: The organisation that runs a help service. Accepted only for its own service.
initiative: The organisation behind an initiative. Accepted only for its own initiative.

Some official websites cannot be reached from outside their country. In that case we rely on copies of the official pages saved by our editorial team and identified by a checksum; without such a copy, the jurisdiction is listed as "not yet recorded".

Review cycle and outdated values

Every value carries the date of its last check. When a review is due, the value stays visible and is marked "Review pending". Only legal entries without a pending review appear as legislation in structured data; the downloads include the freshness status of each entry.

Type of value	Review due after	Outdated after
Legal entries	45 days	90 days
Summary of general criminal law and editorial notes	45 days	90 days
Help services, first steps and forensic examination	90 days	180 days
Official figures	the expected date of the next publication	400 days
Initiatives, local terms and notes for travellers	180 days	365 days

A legal entry is also due for review when its planned review date has passed, or when a rule that was enacted but not yet in force has reached its start date. It is outdated as soon as its end date has passed while its status is not "Expired".

Official figures

The atlas reports official case and total counts only. Breakdowns by substance are available from the cited source.

Data gap

For every country we record whether a public authority publishes official case or total counts on drink spiking. Where we found none, the country page says that no official data is published, with the date of our search and the sources searched. Where we have not searched yet, it says "not yet recorded". The hub shows how many of the recorded countries publish official figures.

Download and feeds

The data behind the atlas is available as JSON and CSV. The change feed lists legislative events, newly added jurisdictions and corrections; it does not list routine re-checks.

Licence and citation

Data and graphics of the atlas are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence: CC BY 4.0

Licensor: Bormann Bioscience LLC

Suggested citation (APA):

Bormann Bioscience LLC. (2026). DrinkCheck Spiking Atlas: Drink spiking laws worldwide (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. https://getdrinkcheck.com/drink-spiking-laws

Data format version 1.0.0. A change that breaks the format raises the major version.

Limits

Not legal advice

Whether a specific product meets a requirement is decided by the competent authority; this overview makes no statement on that.

Report an error

Found an error? Write to dimatteo@bormannbio.com.

We check every report against the official source before we correct the data.

Corrections log

Every correction of published data, newest first. Wrong dates in a history are replaced, not added to.

No corrections recorded so far.

Dataset change log

Versions of the data format, newest first.

1.0.0 · October 6, 2026 · First version of the data format: jurisdictions, legal entries with history, reviewed help services, official figures, initiatives, local terms and corrections.