Tampering with someone’s food or drink in Chandler could lead to criminal prosecution. This after the Chandler City Council adopted a new ordinance to protect people dining out.
According to the city, the latest action seeks to fill in the gaps in state law.
Anyone using or attempting to use drugs or intoxicating liquor in a person's food or drink potentially faces a Class 1 misdemeanor
Councilmember OD Harris, introduced the ordinance.
“Well, this particular ordinance addresses attempt. That's the key word in this. So if you attempt to do this, that's the one thing that the state law does not have. It only talks about the execution of it," Harris said.
He introduced the ordinance.
“What it does is clearly define food and drink tampering as a city crime. This ordinance empowers victims to come forward, report concerns, and know that Chandler will take these incidents seriously," he said.
Harris says it’s important to call out such issues as the city of Chandler develops more colleges and brings in students. He also called on other municipalities to adopt such ordinances.
Chandler is not the only city in the East Valley to pass such legislation to tackle drink spiking. The city of Tempe previously passed an ordinance requiring businesses to carry drink spiking test kits.
The ordinance goes into effect on May 24.
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