Dear Dr. Jeff: How do I know if I've been given a date rape drug? How do I protect myself against them? K.V.
Dear K.V.: Two important questions! The best indication that you've ingested a date rape drug is that you feel far more affected by what you've been drinking than you would expect to be.
If you usually have no trouble at all handling a few drinks, but you find yourself totally tanked after a drink or two, you might well have been slipped something else. If you black out during a party, or wake up the next morning with a monumental hangover and no memory of the previous night of moderate drinking, you probably ingested something more than alcohol.
Get help immediately! If the Health Center's not open, go to MidCoast Emergency Room and ask to be evaluated for possible date-rape drugging.
How to protect yourself? First, you need to stay informed. Three drugs are most commonly used for sexual predation.
Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) has earned the nickname "Easy Lay," and seems to be the predator's agent of choice. First developed as an anesthetic agent, GHB has been banned in this country for some time. It comes as a clear liquid (odorless but somewhat salty) or a white powder or tablet. At lower "recreational" doses, GHB causes euphoria, exaggerated self-confidence and disinhibition.
At higher doses, it causes drowsiness, physical collapse and amnesia. GHB can be particularly powerful and dangerous when taken with alcohol, and overdose can come quickly, unpredictably, and sometimes fatally. GHB's effects begin 10-20 minutes after ingestion, and typically last up to four hours. Traces remain detectable in urine only for twelve hours.
Flunitrazepam, aka "Rohypnol," "Roche," "Roofies," etc., is a valium-like substance legally manufactured by Hoffmann-Roche. In Europe, Rohypnol is used as a surgical anesthetic. In this country, it has no approved legal use, and shows up primarily as a date rape drug. Rohypnol comes as a white, dime-sized pill that dissolves quickly in alcoholic beverages and soft drinks.
It is tasteless and odorless (but if legally manufactured, will turn pale liquids blue.) Within 5-20 minutes of ingestion, Rohypnol causes weakness, somnolence, muscle paralysis, confusion and amnesia. These effects last 4-6 hours. Traces of the drug remain detectable in urine for up to 72 hours.
Ketamine, aka "Special K," "Kit Kat," "Super C," etc., is also a surgical anesthetic, used legally in this country for humans and animals. At lower doses, it causes a PCP ("Angel Dust")-like dissociative state, with numbness, incoordination, and a sense of exaggerated strength and rapturous invulnerability. At higher doses, the rapture becomes paranoia, and the numb incoordination progresses to muscle rigidity and frank paralysis. Disorientation, hallucinations, inability to communicate, loss of consciousness and amnesia soon follow.
Pharmaceutical ketamine comes as a clear liquid. Street ketamine is more often a crystallized white powder or tablet. The effects of ketamine begin very quickly and can last up to 12 hours. Traces can be found in urine for up to 24 hours. Ketamine typically leaves you with a horrific and long-drawn hangover.
Judging by frequency of abuse, though, alcohol is still the sexual predator's drug of choice. Studies continue to show that drinking plays a central role in over 70,000 reported cases of campus date rape every year. ninety percent of reported sexual assaults on college campuses involve the use or abuse of alcohol.
A few tips. Most importantly, don't go alone to parties. Don't accept any drink you haven't seen poured. This includes beer drawn from a keg. Don't leave your drink uncovered or unattended. Don't share or exchange drinks. If you're feeling very intoxicated after only one or two drinks, get help, and make sure someone you trust is watching out for you.
We need to address the cultural and social underpinnings of sexual predation. We need to break open the silence of sexual assault. We need to get back control over all that tries to depersonalize human intimacy, all that encourages some to seek out sex with an anesthetized body, rather than with a consenting partner.
We all need to do our part to protect ourselves and our friends.
Jeff Benson, MD
Dudley Coe Health Center