Multiple things can be true at the same time. Do Downtown Nashville bars have a problem with patrons being drugged? Certainly. Are they making efforts to recognize and prevent this criminal act? Absolutely. Almost 50 Nashville bars already trained under the Safe Bar Initiative, a bystander-intervention-based educational training program. Read Scene reporter Hannah Herner's story from 2022 about this for background.
Nashville’s Sexual Assault Center hopes to mitigate the problem with its Safe Bar program
But recently, there’s been quite a bit of buzz on TikTok and various Nashville visitors groups that it might actually be the bartenders who are often responsible for drugging their own customers. That has created quite an uproar among other online groups, including the Nashville Hospitality Professionals page on Facebook.
It was there that local United States Bartenders' Guild South regional council representative Chris Mallon decided to speak his piece.
Mallon is an experienced local bartender and educator at the Tennessee Whiskey Workshop, where he leads mixology classes to groups and individuals. On his company’s website, he decided to address the accusations that have been leveled at local bartenders in a thoughtful — but clearly frustrated — defense of the industry.
Chris Mallon
He starts by describing the typical specious claims on the internet:
"Be careful! I think I got drugged on Broadway. I only had two drinks!"
Suddenly, there’s a pile-on. Everyone’s chiming in. "That happened to my friend too." "It was definitely the bartender." "Watch your drinks, y’all!"
And just like that, a witch hunt begins — no proof, no police report, just a vibe and a viral thread.
Let me say this clearly:
Bartenders are not drugging you.
He asks what possible motive could a bartender have to drug one of their customers. Anger over a shitty tip? Definitely not worth risking a job or a career over.
More likely, explains Mallon, patrons made some bad decisions that led to an unfortunate result.
“You’ve been drinking all day in the sun. You skipped dinner. Now you’re two drinks deep at 10 p.m. and suddenly the room is spinning. That’s not a roofie. That’s biology.”
Other contributing factors include the popularity of high-proof cocktails. There really aren’t any mixers in an Old Fashioned, a Manhattan, an espresso martini or a Negroni, so if you’re used to vodka sodas back home and decide to get all fancy at a Nashville cocktail lounge, you’d better pump the brakes. Add in the rise of CBD/THC beverages and gummies, and a lot of downtown patrons are probably at least a little ... elevated before they have their first drink in a bar.
In the end, Mallon hopes to fix the problem instead of the blame. He offers options for support and for investigation for anyone who feels like something has gone wrong during a bar visit. Complaining on Facebook doesn’t do anything to identify and deal with the real problems of downtown drinking, but getting real about the issues can help.
I encourage you to go read the original post here — and also to overtip your bartenders. They’re working hard to keep you happy and safe!
