‘They’re Taking Little Needles’: New York Man Says You Need To Check Every Water Bottle You Get In Public, Especially At Hotels. Then He Shows How

Public safety is important. This is why you should always check every free item for potential danger—especially if it seems too good to be true.

Few things in life are truly free. Often, if someone presents you with something and tells you there’s no charge, there’s a catch. For example, you might find out that somewhere has free food, only to learn that the overpriced drinks more than make up for it. Alternatively, you might discover that getting something for free means spending a lot of money.

However, sometimes, people give you something for free because they have something criminal in mind. At least, that’s what’s being alleged in a recent TikTok video from user @therealeducatedmaniac with over 321,000 views about water bottles.

Are Free Water Bottles Dangerous?

In his video, the TikToker recommends employing the “squeeze test” every time you get a water bottle.

“When you go out to the bar, club, hotel, people’s house—doesn’t matter. You need to check their water bottles. Doesn’t matter if it’s brand new, out the box. Doesn’t matter if they give it to you out the fridge,” he starts. “When you get a water bottle, specifically at hotels, when you go on trips and hotels, check the water bottles.”

This “check” involves squeezing the bottle, then seeing if it leaks. According to the TikToker, this is because people will take syringes and inject illicit substances into the bottles.

By squeezing the bottle, one can see leaks or areas that appear to have been patched.

“Don’t get roofied. This is how some people getting kidnapped, whatever. You getting robbed, everything,” he shares. “They getting you with the water bottle, OK?”

Do People Actually Inject Things Into Water Bottles?

This is technically possible. That said, actual evidence that this is really happening is slim.

There are occasional news stories about people accidentally drinking from “spiked” water bottles. That said, there’s little evidence to suggest that the phenomenon is widespread.

However, rumors about this happening have been going back several years, with sites debunking the idea as far back as 2018.

In short, while this is possible, and checking one’s water bottle for possible injection sites can’t hurt, water bottle injections do not seem to be a common method of spiking.

What’s The Data About Spiked Drinks?

Thankfully, drink spiking utilizing an illicit substance is rare. While many say they have inadvertently consumed a spiked drink, subsequent testing of those who claim to have been spiked finds that only a small percentage actually tested positive for sedatives.

Instead, many cases of alleged “spiking” typically involve alcohol. For example, someone may give a person a drink and tell them it only contains one shot of alcohol when it actually contains two or three. This causes them to experience more pronounced effects than they expected, leading them to believe they have consumed a spiked beverage.

Alcohol spiking is dangerous and can have serious consequences. If one is concerned about this, they should be careful to only consume drinks they’ve seen being made and have been monitoring.

Additionally, while drug spiking may be rare, it does still happen. If you suspect that you have been drugged, it’s best to go to a doctor as soon as possible so they can provide appropriate testing and treatment.

Commenters Are Scared

In the comments section, users said they were afraid of this happening to them. Many also said that this fear has affected their behavior.

“It totally freaks me out when a rideshare driver asks me if I would like a bottle of water. Immediate no,” wrote a user.

“That’s why I ALWAYS carry my own water!!!” exclaimed another.

“I squeeze everything even my bags of snacks and chips and candy,” added a third.

UPDATE: In an email, the TikToker told BroBible that he learned this advice from his experience in casinos.

“I used to be in the casinos a lot and it’s very common there and bars,” he wrote. “Just from everything going on around people, they don’t realize that the bottle is even leaking, so they make easy targets in those places.”

“Easy way to avoid this is just checking your water bottle, especially out in public places, or buy[ing] glass water bottles,” he added.