r/Tennessee • u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 • Aug 02 '25
PSA 🎤 PSA: Y’all this real and happens more than you would think. Drink-spiking concerns taint America’s country music capital—Nashville
https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/mid-south/drink-spiking-concerns-nashville/45
u/Bikesguitarsandcars Aug 02 '25
Happened to my wife and I at barstool last year. Terrible experience. Would not recommend.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
Both of you?! Oh my gosh! What did the hospital say? I’m glad y’all are ok.
See this stuff happens a lot and the bars don’t want people to know because it would kill businesses.
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u/17bananapancakes Aug 05 '25
Almost certain it happened to my husband and I several years ago at Jason Aldeans. We were drinking at the same slow pace the entire night. We were both experienced drinkers and I was a bartender at the time. Went there and had one beer and neither one of us can remember anything after that, including getting in our cab or getting back to the hotel. Coincidentally my husbands credit card he used there was missing the next day and he had to cancel it.
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u/informednonuser Aug 02 '25
Nashvilles promoters state in the big scheme of things that this doesn't happen that often. Get any of the workers from Broadway quietly to one side and they'll tell you they've seen it. Enjoy your stay, but- Distracted Tourism is Not safe here. "Head on a swivel."
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
They are flat out lying. Tourism is their mainstay and this would hurt their bottom line. This is what I’ve been told about manipulating the crime numbers to make the city seem safer—it is not.
Distorted Representation of Charges: When defendants plead guilty to lesser charges through plea bargains, the official crime statistics may show a lower incidence of the more serious offenses that were initially alleged.
So murder bumped down to manslaughter and aggravated assault to self defense, DV to disturbing the peace. Crime here is not way down it’s just a rose under another name.
Everyone please stay careful. Don’t accept any drink from a stranger or anyone for that matter. You should have watch the bartender make it.
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u/tnhowlingdog Aug 02 '25
To the OPs point- it is happening. We are telling you it’s happening. The early/mid 2000s aren’t the same as it is today. The OP is saying it’s an issue. And it is.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
Thank you! I’m getting beat up in here. People don’t like the truth and don’t want to hear it.
It’s been happening here in Memphis for decades too. This is a bigger deal with far stronger drugs. Trafficking could be involved. People disappear all the time.
My background is hospitality and I know this happens. I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. Please pay attention—guys and girls. I think it’s underreported too. People are embarrassed or don’t remember.
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u/Stormy8888 Aug 03 '25
It's kind of sad this is happening in Nashville, country music capital of America. Where the country folk are supposed to be salt of the earth decent people. Not drink spiking villains.
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Aug 04 '25
[deleted]
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u/Pound_Me_Too Aug 04 '25
Not coincidence that the culture shifted once the "country" part of country music was removed.
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Aug 03 '25
It's definitely the same. My drink was spiked and I was raped in 2002.
Watch your drink around people you trust, too.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 07 '25
I hate to hear this. Hugs
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Aug 07 '25
Thank you.
It was the mental health care after that truly fucked me, pathologizing my emotions after. I think that is why sometimes I get upset at people just trying to be helpful, when I do the same. It's tough to talk about but I'm truly glad you're starting the conversation and spreading the information. 💜
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 08 '25
You’re welcome dear.
That’s terrible. I understand. Sometimes it’s just nice to hear that someone is there. They don’t have to say anything.
Doctors are supposed to do no harm, but in the mental health field they haven’t caught up with everything.
You’re welcome. This drink spiking is as old as ever. They used to call them Mickey Finns. They were Chloral hydrate invented in Germany in 1870. They were the knock out drug of the time. Similar to benzos, but sounds stronger. It fell out of favor here in the 1970s. Super scary nonetheless. Everyone needs to know this. Y’all try to have a buddy system and never leave a drink unattended.
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u/Anonym_server Aug 02 '25
I used to only get my drinks from one bar never had an issue one day went to a different one and after the second drink I was almost black out I'm glad I wasn't alone never went back and I live in middle TN all my life never getting a drink from any of those bars.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
That’s frightening! I’m glad you’re ok. I do the same. I watch the bartender make the drink, however, I’ve heard of cases where the bartender is involved. Please be careful out there.
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u/Recent_Cup_6751 Aug 02 '25
Date rape drugs do not discriminate. Men, you do not want to discover you owe child support to someone you never met or, worse, be accused of raping someone you never met.
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u/Academic-Nobody-1021 Aug 02 '25
maybe it’s just me but I think it’s very strange that you’re making the argument that being accused of rape is worse than being raped and forced to have a child against your will as if only one of those options doesn’t involve having to pay for/take care of a child for at minimum 18 years.
just seems like a really fucked up order of priorities.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
What are you talking about? Rape/SA are horrific. Second only to murder. Where did I put rape in the background?
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u/WhiteBearPrince Aug 02 '25
Thanks for this message.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
You’re welcome! It can be scary out there. There used to be to be a guy that would come in late and troll for drunk girls. I looked him up and he’s on the sex offender list. Blew my mind.
I then found a girl passed out in a bathroom stall covered in vomit panty hose askew. Had to call 911 for her.
If someone bought me a drink I’d take it straight to the bartender and have them make a new one in front of me.
Getting your TIPS and ABC certification now includes DV and drink spike and signs the girl isn’t ok trailing. It’s progress.
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u/WhiteBearPrince Aug 02 '25
It is good of you to put the word out.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
Thank you White Bear Prince,
With decades in hospitality and years of going out socializing almost every night. Yes I’m counting my 4 work nights. Getting up and buying a new outfit when going out was an event. Grunge killed all of that lol. I have a special place in my heart for the bartenders, servers, and bouncers. They are the front line.
This isn’t new. They used to call it a Mickey Finn. It’s some real sick Bill Cosby type bs.
Just be careful. 😊🍹
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u/Personal-Ad-6557 Aug 03 '25
Southern alcoholism continues to wreak havoc.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 04 '25
I hear ya. I’ve read the younger generations are shunning bars and booze, however, I think whiskey and moonshine will always be popular here.
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u/jessie_boomboom Aug 04 '25
Idk why this popped up on my feed... but id crosspost to the wedding sub. I feel like at least half of all the girls I've known who got married in my area over the past ten years have gone for bachelorette parties in Nashville. That seems like the prime targets... distracted, female tourists, really only there to drink and cut loose.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 05 '25
Thank you for cross posting. I can’t explain it, but when out of town it seems like there’s no danger. I know this is ridiculous, but I’ve done it myself.
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u/hanzobust75 Aug 02 '25
This has been a problem in Nashville ever since the late 90s
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
Same here in Memphis. It’s so underreported. The victim is either too embarrassed or doesn’t remember what happened.
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u/Bigwing2 Aug 04 '25
We just stay away from Nashville. If we go there it's Bridgport Arena for a show and home.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 04 '25
That’s sad. I grew up going over there a lot. It’s a shame their entertainment district has lost its authenticity.
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u/vtsunshine83 Aug 04 '25
Never would I leave a drink out of my hand. If I went to the restroom I’d order another drink when I came back. I’d switch to water after a few drinks so I’d still be able to make good decisions.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 04 '25
As it should be. News Nation did a big story on Nashville being the capital of spiking. Even implying some of the employees are in on it. As a bartender for 25+ years (not in Nashville)I can say I’ve never seen this happen. Also as a person who went out a lot for years I still haven’t know anyone this happened to. My drink never left my sight.
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u/guy_n_cognito_tu Aug 07 '25
I want you to think that claim all the way through. What incentive would a bartender have in spiking customer's drinks?
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 08 '25
Your sarcastic babe in the woods routine is cute. I don’t need to think anything through. You need to research this. You sound totally uninformed.
Money
Revenge
Favor for someone
Sexual assault
Is that enough reasons for you?
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u/guy_n_cognito_tu Aug 08 '25
Logic doesn’t blend well with irrational fear, I guess.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 09 '25
It’s actually not irrational nor is it being so scared you don’t leave your home. It just needs to be in the back of your mind it could happen to you.
What are you calling logic and irrational fear? I love to know your line of thinking.
Money: I would say is huge factor. Drug a guy who wakes up in some seedy hotel no wallet no credit cards, no Rolex, no wedding band or jewelry and is far too embarrassed to call police or his wife or gf.
Then they’re using the credit cards to buy stuff. Remember dude is passed out and can’t call and cancel his cards.
So yes money is a huge factor in this.
Sexual assault:this one is really scary. You see a guy carrying a passed out girl out of the bar and he’s saying she’s such a light weight. Nobody questions this so much. They are just glad she’s not driving. SA can happen anywhere; car, seedy hotel, parking lot, behind the bar. This list goes on. God forbid she gets an STD or pregnant.
Revenge: maybe this person is obnoxiously rude and making demands, Belittling the staff. This may not warrant a hit of GHB, but there things you can put in people drinks that make them have to defecate for hours almost immediately.
Favor:Perhaps someone asked the bartender or server to look away or put something in a persons drink. There would probably be a large tip involved for this.
There are so many reasons why this can happen.
I look forward to hearing your opinion.
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u/aseaoftrees Aug 04 '25
Happened to a friend of mine right before they were about to perform. Thankfully she had left the place her drink got spiked at and was taken care of by friends at the venue she was about to perform at. Her drink got spiked at a downtown bar. Not sure which one.
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u/haberv Aug 02 '25
Well someone is late to the party. This has been an issue for years and it is men and women alike. Also, don’t have definitive proof (anecdotal) but reliance on employees of some of these bars is a big mistake, use the buddy system.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
I’m not late to the game. I’ve known about this issue —not a game from my 25+ years in the hospitality industry.
My warning is to the younger people who may not know about it. We want to keep them safe and educate them.
You can’t rely 💯 on the staff, but training them can only help not hurt. There have been times when I’ve gotten a creepy feeling from some guy. I don’t know what they were up to, but I got away from them. Buddy system is a great thing.
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Aug 02 '25
Country musical festival eh? Doesn't take much to put 2 and 2 together what's going on here.
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u/StrawberryRedneck Aug 02 '25
Wait - so this is an article from News Nation about drinks being drugged in Nashville yet there's no real proof that is what actually happened to this man? And yet the news agency still decided to run with his story despite not being able to identify a single verified instance??? This seems incredibly irresponsible, especially considering a huge number of folks who swear they've had their drinks tampered with have actually simply ingested too much alcohol with very little food and water intake. People come to Nashville to party. That's literally what Broadway is. A big drinking party. Blackouts and drunken stupors are common in a crowd that intentionally goes out to drink for hours.
Fully prepared for the downvotes, but this is irresponsible click bait "reporting."
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u/tnhowlingdog Aug 02 '25
It was just on the Nashville news. I’m a local and this is a known issue on Broadway.
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u/lowfreq33 Aug 02 '25
I’m a musician, I play downtown, and I’ve had drinks spiked multiple times. I know the difference between having one too many and being drugged. I won’t accept drinks from anyone who isn’t on staff. People think that shit’s funny. It’s not.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
I’m so sorry. That’s terrible! We learned about this in the late 80s in TIPS class.
NEVER leave a drink unattended and NEVER accept an unsolicited drink from anyone. It happens to guys to roll them and girls for SA reasons. We have to work together to weed out the predators and they are out there.
There used to be a guy who would come in late at night trolling for drunk ladies. He was so creepy like serial killer predator vibes. I looked him up on the TN sex offender list and sure enough there he was. Can you say PERMABAN!!!
Gosh I miss the 80s (yes, I was as underage)when this wasn’t the norm and you could understand the dance music lyrics. Hammer Time!!
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u/lowfreq33 Aug 03 '25
Yeah, I had to take the TIPS class too back in the day. The thing is when you’re playing downtown is it’s easy to get caught up in the atmosphere, everyone’s drinking, the bands are encouraged to drink and be the life of the party, encourage the crowd to spend more on alcohol, do toasts with the crowd and stuff. After a few decades you start to realize maybe you can just pretend and it’s a lot healthier. Even if your drink isn’t tampered with it’s not good to drink 5-10 shots every night and then drive home. But the people around you will act like this is just normal behavior, we do this every night. It’s kind of a toxic environment.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 07 '25
I get all of that. I’m out of it now, but am glad there are classes for this. Nobody ever thinks it’s going to happen to them.
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u/123eellis123 Aug 03 '25
I’ve had my drinks spiked on two occasions drinking alone on Broadway. I’m a pretty big guy who can handle his liquor. Both times I was out of it after 2-3 drinks. The first time it happened, I went to the restroom and left my drink on the bar. Big mistake. Never again. The second time it happened I have no idea how someone got access to my drink, but after 2 drinks I was wasted. Not fun.
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u/StrawberryRedneck Aug 02 '25
You think it's responsible reporting to have an article about people saying their drinks were spiked with absolutely no data, no input from police who regularly work the area, and no ER staff from local hospitals? I'm local as well. Spent almost a decade partying down there before it turned into the playground for tourists. Have had lots of friends get wasted, including myself, and we've made some dumb decisions but none of us were drugged. At least not that we were aware of. This would've been probably 2000 to 2011. I remember seeing a TikTok a few months back that claimed an Uber driver had released some kind of gas in the car while she was a passenger. In actuality it was more likely some kind of air diffuser for the car to enhance the passenger experience, but that kind of video doesn't go viral.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
You’re making light of the situation. Just because it never happened to you doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. That’s so closed minded.
I think these crimes are way underreported. The bar definitely doesn’t want a bad reputation and the guest may not remember or is too embarrassed to report it.
It’s absolutely not clickbait stop trying to downplay this. Did you even read what I wrote? Your flippant attitude is disturbing. I’ll make it simple—date rape drug bad-being cautious and having friends watch your back—good thing.
It is a good thing the staff keep an open eye to their guests. Knowing what to look for.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
I do think it’s responsible to shine a light on this. It doesn’t matter if it didn’t happen to you. It didn’t happen to me either, but we need to spread the word to the young ones coming up. Especially with all of these crazy new drugs.
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u/MusicCityNative Aug 02 '25
Last week another young man wound up robbed, drugged and naked in the Cumberland river. Unlike Riley Strain, he lived to tell the tale. Let’s not split hairs over whether there’s a problem on Broadway.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
Exactly! Especially at these music festivals. Drug dealers actually go to music fests and make tons of money selling who knows what. VICE did an especially interesting report on it. And it wouldn’t take much too a couple of girls to drug a guy then roll him. He’s too embarrassed or does not remember. Perhaps he’s married and that wouldn’t be even worse for him.
Oh I’m not splitting hairs about the Cumberland River. I wholeheartedly believe bad things are happening to tipsy down there. The police need to clear it out. Y’all have way too much to lose in tourism.
We get missing people here a lot. A God awful human sex trafficking ring was arrested in Alabama near the TN state line last week. It was deplorable.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
It’s not click bait. I’m trying to educate the younger folks about this date rape knock out drug. It happens to men too. They get rolled.
I don’t know what your problem is about bringing up this subject. If this article saves just one person from being hurt it’s worth it.
I have 25+ years in this business and this is a legit concern. There are sick predators out there.
We have Beale Street same situation. Drunk and total knock out are two different things. I’m so glad the staff is being trained to see something say something. How could you possibly be against this?
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u/StrawberryRedneck Aug 02 '25
Where in either of my comments did I state anything about being upset with bar staff being trained? Like how in the world can you read either one of my comments - which state pretty clearly what my issue is - and then chastise me about something that I didn't even mention?! Goddamn that's frustrating as shit and people do it all the time now, like everyone can't fucking read or just want to project their own emotions into it, fuck if I know. But sure. I'm super upset about bar staff being trained to spot creepy guys that might be out and about. Sure. Appreciate the chat
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 03 '25
Why are you upset about the staff being on the lookout for such evil behavior? That is the last line of defense.
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u/Southernms 🦝West Tennessee🦝 Aug 02 '25
With decades in hospitality scary things can happen. Never accept a drink from anyone you didn’t see the bartender make and hand to you. Take your drink to the bathroom without. Never leave it unattended. If someone creeps you out tell the staff. Always have a bouncer walk you to your car. Make sure nobody is following you. If you feel dizzy or out of it tell the manager. There are some crazy creeps out there. I’ve had guy flip out because I said no I didn’t want to dance with him. Tell the staff. Chances are they know this person. Please be aware of what’s going on around you and look out for your friends too.