Victims have been sexually and physically assaulted, robbed and left dangerously ill after having drugs slipped into their drink or sneakily jabbed into them.
Commonly the victim will appear drunk and confused, making it easier for the criminals to take advantage of them.
Police records show officers dealt with more than 1,213 needle-spiking cases last year, up from 511 in 2021.
The dossier of crimes includes people having to be rushed to hospital emergency wards after inexplicably collapsing in the middle of a night out.
Often the only clue is a puncture mark on the body.
A woman passed out at a party after apparently being needle-spiked in the thigh.
There were also 4,938 logs relating to drink-spiking in 2022, up from 3,923 the year before.
But both figures may be a huge underestimate of the scale of the crime as 13 of the 44 police forces in England and Wales were unable to provide figures for the Freedom of Information Act survey.
The Centre for Crime Prevention called the increase “deeply troubling” and said ministers need to take it seriously.