Spiked drinks and other London, United Kingdom Warning Or Danger Tips

A problem ( not specific to London by any means) is "spiking" of drinks in bars / nightclubs.

By "spiking" I don't mean slipping an extra vodka in an orange juice, but the use of seriously strong sedatives such as Rohypnol, with the victims then being taken somewhere and sexually assaulted. In some cases, the women are not even aware of what has happened until much later.

The advice is never to accept drinks from strangers unless you see them poured yourself by the barstaff, never leave your drink unattended and be careful.

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Website: http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/azhealthtopics/a/daterapedrgfaq.htm

A problem in London is unlicensed minicabs which hang about outside bars and nightclubs especially in the centre and tout for business.

There are several problems with this. Firstly, the vast majority of them are not covered by insurance for "hire and reward" i.e. taking paying passengers, so if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident you are not covered.

Secondly, if they do manage to get you to where you want to go, they charge extortionate fares, and can be quite "forceful" about collecting the money.

The third, and most serious danger, is that of sexual assault on women. Police in London estimate that on average one woman per week is raped by a bogus minicab driver. 91% of women attacked is under 35 years old, and 50% of them under 24. These bogus drivers deliberately target women who are obviously a little drunk, and who are on their own.

The advice is simple - DON'T DO IT.

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Website: http://www.met.police.uk/sapphire/feature2.htm

Do not be tempted into buying hot dogs or burgers from any of the street vendors that plague the West End of London.

They are unlicensed and therefore unregulated and the standards of food preparation and hygeine would, quite frankly, make your hair stand on end. I know a number of people who have become very ill after eating from these stalls.

There are plenty of proper eating places in town, open all hours, and you really should have no need to resort to using these vendors.

As a side issue, most of the vendors are controlled by Eastern European criminals (and treated pretty appallingly by them). Many of the vendors are illegal immigrantsrun by "Gang bosses." Not only are you running the risk of sickness, you are also supposting organised criminal activity.

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If, like me, you are a smoker, do not be tempted to buy cigarettes from the machines in pubs or restaurants. The packets sold are invariably packs of 16 as opposed to the normal 20, and you will pay well over the odds for them. The best place to buy cigarettes is in supermarkets, whose prices are low due to the economies of scale, or, failing that, newsagents or off-licences.

For example, I currently (as of June 2005) pay about £4:95 for 20 Marlboro lights in a supermarket. I was in a pub yesterday where a pack of 16 was £5:35.

Work it out yourselves!

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Be aware of people offering you very cheap cigarettes, normally outside Tube stations (Whitechapel is particularly bad). Most of the people involved in this are either Eastern European or Chinese (who tend to work Central London more)..

These cigarettes will be one of two things. They are either illegally imported, in which case you run a (slight) cahnce of getting in trouble with the authorities, or else they are completely counterfeit cigarettes in whch case they are even more harmful than ordinary cigarettes, containing frightening levels of chemicals.

Have a look at the linked website, or do your own research.

Believe me, I'm a smoker, and I'm appalled by the amount of duty imposed by the Government on tobacco products, but I just wouldn't touch these things.

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Website: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1504355,00.html

I know the title of this tip may seem a bit odd, but I will explain leter. firstly, I must stress that this tip will probably not apply to 99% of visitors to London, but I am submitting it for the 1% it may be of use to. Secondly, the tip refers to some very specific areas of London, and those are not normally associated with tourism. It does happen to be a particular problem in the area of the East End I live in, in fact the accompanying photograph was taken from my home.

If you see men (it will never be women) chewing what appears to be long twigs, and these men have an Eastern African appearance, you are probably looking at the consumption of Qat / Khat (there are various spellings). I mention the appearance of the participants, and it is certainly not a racist comment, merely that this substance is used exclusively by people from that part of the world, certainly in my experience.

Qat is effectively a naturally occurring amphetimine substance obtained by chewing on these twigs. The men will chew these things, often for a couple of days on end, and the effects are much similar to other amphetimine based drugs. They tend to get very voluble and can be aggressive. There are Qat establishments where the participants go and sit, somewhat similar in concept if not style, to an Amsterdam coffee shop. there is one literally yards from my home and it causes no end of trouble. It is interesting that the substance is banned in many countries but is still legal in the UK. I have personally witnessed literally a lorry load of it being offloaded to a premises locally.

If you do spot people taking Qat in the street, which is not that usual, employ the normal street tactics you would for other circumstances i.e. cross the road if possible, avoid eye contact, do not initiate conversation, and you should be OK. Whilst Qat does make men aggressive, and they certainly fight amongst themselves, I have not heard of "outsiders" being attacked, although I have been harrassed several times by people looking for money / cigarettes etc.

Like all these things, do not let it play on your mind, it is unlikely you will ever stumble across it but, as I say, I submit this tip as it may just be of use.

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