Date rape drug
The most common incapacitating agent for date rape is alcohol, administered either surreptitiously[1] or consumed voluntarily,[2] rendering the victim unable to make informed decisions or give consent.
[4] A similar study of 2,003 urine samples of victims of suspected drug-facilitated sexual assaults found less than 2% tested positive for Rohypnol or GHB.
[citation needed] Other drugs that have been used include hypnotics such as zopiclone, methaqualone, and the widely available zolpidem (Ambien); sedatives such as neuroleptics (anti-psychotics), chloral hydrate, and some histamine H1 antagonists; common recreational drugs such as ethanol, cocaine, and less common anticholinergics, barbiturates, opioids, PCP, scopolamine;[11] nasal spray ingredient oxymetazoline;[12][13][14] and certain GABAergics like GHB.
[15] Researchers agree that the drug most commonly involved in drug-facilitated sexual assaults is alcohol,[2] which the victim has consumed voluntarily in most cases.
According to The Blade, the study specifically ignored an Ohio statute that excluded "situations where a person plies his intended partner with drink or drugs in hopes that lowered inhibition might lead to a liaison."
[22] [dubious – discuss] Benzodiazepines (tranquilizers), such as Valium, Librium, Klonopin, Xanax, and Ativan, are prescribed to treat anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, and several other conditions, and are also frequently used recreationally.
Because the most commonly used drug tests often yield false negatives for Rohypnol, experts recommend use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis.
After the drug wears off, users may find themselves unable to remember what happened while under its influence (anterograde amnesia), and feeling woozy, hung-over, confused, dizzy, sluggish and uncoordinated, often with an upset stomach.
One, developed by two Tel Aviv University researchers, is a sensor for gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and ketamine, but appears similar to a straw, and sends a text to the user's phone to warn them.
[43][44] Another, designed by four North Carolina State University students, is a nail polish that changes color in the presence of date rape drugs.
[citation needed] In early 1996, Newsweek magazine published "Roofies: The date-rape drug" which ended with the line "Don't take your eyes off your drink.
[50] In 1997 and 1998, the date rape drug story received extensive coverage on CNN, ABC's 20/20 and Primetime Live, as well as The Oprah Winfrey Show.
[citation needed] News media has been criticized for overstating the threat of drug-facilitated sexual assault, for providing "how to" material for potential date rapists and for advocating "grossly excessive protective measures for women, particularly in coverage between 1996 and 1998.
[53] Craig Webber states that this extensive coverage has created or amplified a moral panic[54] rooted in societal anxieties about rape, hedonism and the increased freedoms of women in modern culture.
[52] By shining a spotlight on premeditated criminal behavior, Philip Jenkins states that it has relieved the culture from having to explore and evaluate more nuanced forms of male sexual aggression towards people, such as those displayed in date rapes that were not facilitated by the surreptitious administration of drugs.
Similarly, in the Progressive Era, a persistent urban legend told of white middle-class women being surreptitiously drugged, abducted, and sold into sexual slavery to Latin American brothels.
[56][57] This analysis does not contradict instances when date rape drugs are used or sexual trafficking occurs; its focus is on actual prevalence of certain crimes relative to media coverage of it.
