yourself from
Yuu miuw noi lu wdiK across campus aione arter dark, to lock
your door before going to bed, to call for a ride if you’re too
drunk to drive. You may even be armed with pepper spray.
But chances are you underestimate the danger of another, more
stealthy predator.
Rebecca* did.
The 19-year-old University of Massachusetts student awoke in
her dorm room after a party one night, naked from the waist down.
Though Rebecca had no clear memory of what happened the night
before, bits and pieces came back to her.
Watching a movie with her friend Liz and two male friends; danc
ing and playing drinking games; tending to Liz when she suddenly
:ll._l:_iL._j.. __•_ ii
f.v.uiiujr mi, '-11^1115 tilt: pal L_y, paying guuu-uyc
to one of the guys. It’s what happened next that
Rebecca couldn’t recall, a memory lapse that lead her
to fear the worst, suspicions that were confirmed by a
doctor’s exam the next day. Rebecca had been raped.
Police believe Rebecca and Liz were given a dose of
“roofies,” a drug widely known to reduce inhibitions
and cause amnesia.
Unce popular in the party scene tor their hangover-free high, a
2 mg dose of drugs like Rohypnol, Ketamine or CHB can cause dis
orientation and confusion within 15-20 minutes. The symptoms are
often mistaken for extreme alcohol intoxication—drowsiness, dizzi
ness, lack of muscle coordination and nausea. One dose can cause
a person to blank out for up to eight hours, and an overdose can
kill you.
Use of the drugs to facilitate sexual assault has become so com
mon that they have become known as “date rape drugs.” Their list
of nicknames is a long one—roofies, forget pill, mind erasers, liquid
ecstasy, grievous bodily harm and easy lay, to name a few.
Rebecca is only one of hundreds of suspected victims nation
wide. In Virginia, two 15-year-old girls were raped using Rohypnol
when they went to visit a friend. Joy Diliello of Jackson, Tenn. was
raped by a man who slipped her Rohypnol. He reportedly boasted
about attacks on 20 other women.
Rootle overdoses have killed more than 66 people, one of them a
16-year-old Michigan girl named Samantha Reid, who drank a Mountain
Dew spiked with CHB (see GHBkills.com for more on GHB).
Her death inspired the Date-Rape Drug Prohibition Act, which puts
GHB and Ketamine in the same class as cocaine and heroin in terms of
possession and distribution.
The government has an emergency drug alert info site at
emergency.com/roofies.htm, and a club drugs site, clubdrugs.org.
Because college women are particularly susceptible to the
dangers of date rape drugs, which are commonly used in bars or
Never leave drinks
unattended at a
party or bar, and
avoid drinks pur
chased by strangers.
at large parties, many campuses have issued warn
ings about the drugs.
Despite heightened awareness about date rape
drugs, successful prosecution of rapes involving the
drugs is rare. All traces of these drugs leave the body
in under 72 hours, and an uncertain, confused victim
doesn’t always make it to the hospital for a drug
screening immediately after a suspected rape.
in if a
1. Never leave an open drink unattended.
2. Don’t let strangers buy you a drink.
3. Open your own bottles or watch a bartender open them for you.
4. Don’t drink from communal punch bowls—they could be spiked.
5. Be wary of strangers who come up close to you while you’re
holding a drink—pills can be easily dropped Into a glass when
you’re looking away.
ft ctnamtiinn«kle not
Rebecca’s perpetrator went to trial but was acquitted because all
drug related evidence was ruled inadmissible by the judge. Simply
put, she had no proof that she’d been slipped a roofie.
Experts advise women to never leave drinks unattended at a
party or bar, and to avoid drinks purchased by strangers.
If you believe you may have been the victim of a drugging, visit
the British Roofie Foundation at faze.com/trf or the Connecticut
Sexual Assault Crisis Services site at connsacs.org/rohypnol.htm for
advice about what you should and should not do and the legal hurdles
you may have to face. •
*name changed to protect identity of the victim
For a guide to online support groups and emergency informa
tion go to steamtunnels.net and search for keyword “Support. ”
I A homemade manufacturing kit for the date rape drug CHB or
I gamma hydroxybutyric acid, available on an Internet site.
Top left: AP Photo/M.). Avila Top right: AP Photo/Paul Warner Bottom: AP Photo/Paul Warner