New reports of drink spiking raise safety concerns in St. John's bars

WARNING: This article contains references to assault and sexual assault.

One night three years ago, Melanie Lapierre went to George Street in downtown St. John's looking for a fun night with her friends.

Instead, she wound up on a nightclub's bathroom floor for three hours.

Lapierre, then 24, believes someone slipped drugs into her drink. 

"There's so many pieces that I don't remember," Lapierre said in an interview. "And I can only attest that to not knowing what was in my drink, because I only had three drinks at that point."

After two glasses of wine and a single shot, Lapierre lost her memory of what happened that night. 

She also doesn't know who may have attacked her, or how they did it. 

What happened to Lapierre is an all-too-common experience for partygoers in St. John's. While downtown businesses, police and others have launched safety campaigns, the problem persists. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary told CBC News it is dealing with new reports filed in recent weeks of suspected drink spiking in metro St. John's.

Lapierre remains affected by the incident and will not go back to that particular nightclub because of the unsettling feelings it would bring her. 

She said that she doesn't remember walking into the bathroom at the nightclub. She also has no memory of leaving. 

A group of women found her in the bathroom, she said, and they helped her contact her friends. Luckily for Lapierre, her friends were able to contact her father, who took Melanie home. 

She said no one knew what to do in that situation, and considering the long wait times in emergency rooms, she didn't seek medical attention. 

"I don't think it's a very well known…thing to know where to go [or] what happens when you are drugged downtown," said Lapierre. 

She said that she continues to hear stories from friends of similar situations in downtown St. John's.