AUSTIN, Texas — Councilmember Zohaib "Zo" Qadri is taking steps to make downtown nightlife safer after hearing two staffers in his office had their drinks spiked.
Qadri said he is ready for Austin to change course.
"No one should ever worry about, 'f I go out, is something going to happen to me? Am I going to get drugged? Am I going to get mugged?' You know, I mean, 'Is it possible that I don't come home?' So that's my hope with this program," Qadri said.
The program Qadri is considering aims to distribute testing strips to bars on Sixth and Rainey Streets. So far, the council has set aside $100,000 for this program. Bars will be able to get the strips from the City and give them to patrons at no cost.
"The only city that has done this or had done this before up to now was West Hollywood," Qadri said. "So we're the second city and largest city in the country to have this."
Heather Bellino is the CEO of Texas Advocacy Project, which works with survivors of dating violence and sexual assault. She said it is important to address date rape issues in a city with a robust hospitality and bar scene like Austin.
"We're going to have more people with nefarious, you know, nefarious misdeeds that they're going to want to do because there is a population that might have more alcohol in their stream," Bellino said.
The City of Austin Development Services Department is in the initial stages of building out the program. Right now, there is no timeline to share for when it will launch.