“I felt a fairly sharp pain in my arm all of a sudden”, confides a victim

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Dozens of young people, men or women, affirm it: they have been stung in nightclubs and victims of dizziness, pain, discomfort. Investigations have been carried out in the four corners of France, from Rennes to Grenoble and even Béziers. But the authorities are puzzled because so far no drugs have been detected. Total vagueness reigns.

>> Stings in nightclubs: five questions about a phenomenon that is the subject of several investigations in France

Yet Laly refuses to believe that her symptoms are psychosomatic. This 20-year-old student first felt severe pain in her arm and head, before discovering later that she had been stung in a nightclub in Nantes. She filed a complaint. “I was in the smoking room when it happenedshe says. I suddenly felt a rather sharp pain in the arm, followed by a rather intense headache. I didn’t understand what was happening at the time. For me, it was either the alcohol, the party, the evening…” Laly was in a nightclub on Wednesday but only saw the trace of the bite the next day: a big red dot on his arm and a hematoma around it. She then only made the connection on Sunday and immediately went to the emergency room.

“It scared me a lot, I was a little panicked. I was like, ‘Damn, this is really happening, this is real.’

Laly, 20, student, sting victim

at franceinfo

But at the hospital, they explain to him that it’s “too late because GHB is only visible in the blood a few hours after the injection. Above all, I did blood tests to see if I had HIV or hepatitis. is super important”insists Laly.

In Nantes, 47 investigations were opened in a few weeks for the administration of harmful substances in 18 listed establishments, nightclubs, bars, concert halls and even theaters. 40 victims are women, very young between 18 and 24 years old, affected in the leg, arm, back, shoulder with very different symptoms, explains the public prosecutor of Nantes, Renaud Gaudeul: “We have people who report the stinging sensation and immediate symptoms. But these symptoms themselves are very diverse, for example drowsiness, vomiting, blackouts, fortunately very temporary loss of memory…” There are “almost as many symptoms described as victims”describes the prosecutor.

The city of Nantes has set up a system with the hospital center to take samples within six hours, despite this, there is no trace of GHB, the date rape drug, or any other harmful substance in the latest toxicological analyses. No recorded cases of sexual assault or rape following these bites either. A real mystery for the Nantes prosecutor. “Today we have no explanation of what precisely this phenomenon is.says Renaud Gaudeul. We can indeed imagine that there are individuals who seek to inoculate people with toxic substances, but we can also imagine that we have a few individuals who wish to create a certain psychosis. There is clearly the frustration of not having been able to challenge the slightest individual. I still have good hope that one day or another we will have the useful questioning of an individual who can be implicated for these facts.

As a result, in Nantes psychosis has set in. Some discos find 40% less attendance. The night professionals try to react: searches at the entrance, camera control, the police move systematically, at the slightest report. MBut so far they have found absolutely nothing, not a single syringe. “There is nothing, no needle, no bedbug found neither on individuals, nor in garbage cans, nor in establishmentsnotes Guillaume, bouncer and co-president of the Sécurité Nocturne Nantes association, which brings together 900 establishments, bars and nightclubs. We wonder like everyone else what it is. Aren’t they little pranksters who play with tacks or safety pins to prick people? There have never been any needles to find and yet there are symptoms. That’s what’s weird.”

The question also arises as to whether it could be a toxic substance that we cannot detect. According to the addictologist doctor, William Lowenstein, accustomed to handling these substances, and president of SOS Addictions, the hypothesis is plausible. “We cannot search for everything. It is very expensive to search for half or three-quarters of the usual substances. And above all, the problem is that, 6 hours later, we are already having difficulty finding GHB. Symptoms are still intense, unusual and not what people usually know.”

“There really is something going on. It’s not a collective psychosis.”

William Lowenstein, addiction doctor

at franceinfo

The phenomenon now affects all of France, and is increasing. Every day, a new complaint is registered. The OCLAESP, Central Office for the fight against attacks on public health, observes it with great attention. The Ministry of the Interior broadcast a spot on social networks on Wednesday where it warns that in case of doubt, you must file a complaint and do a toxicological assessment as soon as possible.


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