Six years ago, while out at a nightclub in Tartu, Aleksandria Reinvart was drugged with GHB, commonly known as a date rape drug, slipped into her water. "Even though I was just supposed to drop my friends off at the club that night, I ended up staying because they said if the party was dull, I might as well drive them somewhere else. I grabbed a water right away and told them, 'You guys go have fun, and if it's a good party, I'll head home,'" she recalled on the TV show "Hommik Anuga."

She took a sip of the water she had ordered and left the glass on the bar while chatting for a few minutes with an old acquaintance she hadn't seen in a while. When she later returned and drank from the same glass, she soon sensed that something was wrong. "I knew I hadn't consumed any alcohol, but I could feel myself slipping away. My whole body was tingling," she described. She turned to the guy she was seeing at the time, but he didn't take her concerns seriously. "The next thing I knew, everything went black and I woke up in the wrong place the next morning."

Reinvart doesn't remember what happened in between. "Today I understand and know what happened, but at first, it took me several days to even realize I'd been assaulted because I was in total denial. It was like my mind just blocked it out. Your body shuts down that memory — your mind throws it away and tells you nothing happened," she said.

Though she prefers not to imagine what was done to her under the influence of the drug, Reinvart is convinced she was sexually assaulted. "The aftermath was severe. I won't go into detail, but 11 days later, I ended up in the ER and nearly died from sepsis. My life was literally hanging by a thread."

Looking back on that night, Reinvart acknowledged that leaving her drink unattended on the bar was a mistake — one that could have been avoided. She now shares her story in schools to help young people stay vigilant.

"Today, I wonder what kind of foolish person leaves their drink and goes off to chat or walk around, then comes back assuming no one touched it. You just can't be that naive," she emphasized. "No one ever told me to keep an eye on my drink, that there could be date rape drugs out there or to watch when someone pours your drink and never accept drinks from strangers. No one talks about this. When we give talks at schools, students sometimes ask, 'So, does that mean I can't accept a cocktail when someone offers?' No! If you want to accept a cocktail, go to the bar and watch it being poured. And sure, thank the guy offering to buy it."

When she later asked the nightclub for surveillance footage, none was provided. The club claimed all recordings had been erased. "I didn't pursue it immediately at the time — that's also why we go to schools and tell people: No matter how bad the situation is, act right away. Go now! Speak up immediately! Otherwise, nothing will change and these creeps will just keep doing it," she urged other victims to take action.

The symptoms of GHB poisoning are similar to those of alcohol intoxication. "You can lose consciousness, you can die. But mostly, you just can't say no. Your body stops cooperating. You seem drunk and you remember nothing," she explained.

With what she knows today, Reinvart said she would immediately have turned to the club's security staff at the first sign of trouble. "If you ever feel something's wrong, go to security and say, 'Something is very wrong. I haven't taken anything.' That's your responsibility," she advised, adding that having a trusted friend who knows what to do can also be crucial.

"If you've been drugged, there's nothing you can do anymore. Only your friends can help. That's why, when we speak in schools, we tell students: Please, pay attention. If your friend usually handles three cocktails fine but this time drinks just one and suddenly collapses or becomes unresponsive, that's not something to film or joke about. Take them somewhere safe, call an ambulance and tell them something is seriously wrong — this is very likely a date rape drug situation."

GHB cannot be detected by smell, taste or color. "Some say it might taste slightly salty, but you can't rely on that. The key is to always keep an eye on your drink," she stressed, noting that there are now disposable rapid tests that can check for the drug at parties.

At the start of her school talks, Reinvart always asks students how many have heard of date rape drugs. Every hand goes up. Then she asks how many have either been drugged themselves or know someone who has. About half the room raises their hands. "Our audiences are usually 200 to 300 people. The problem is massive, but the public conversation around it is almost nonexistent," she said.

Many young people have shared their own experiences with Reinvart. "We look for help together. I recommend therapists and urge them to tell their parents. And I tell parents with young children: Please, talk to your kids," she stressed.

The men who assaulted Reinvart remain free and were never punished. "The reason is simple. I didn't report it to the police. Why? At first, I thought it was too late. But when I started addressing it four years later, I realized it's never really too late. After appearing on the TV show "Õhtu!," someone contacted me and asked if I would now be willing to open an investigation. Maybe they could find a lead because there was so much information tied to that same club and maybe the puzzle pieces would come together. But at this point, there's no point in pursuing it anymore," she said.

However, she did later learn that the man she had asked for help at the club — the one she had been seeing at the time — was actually involved in what happened. "He was my only support person back then, the one I would call if something happened. One phone call was all it took for him to know exactly where to pick me up. He didn't even open the location info I had sent via Messenger — I could see he hadn't even looked at it, but he was already there. I pieced it all together later. They had deleted each other from their friends lists, but the full story eventually came out."

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