One in four women in the US will be raped in their lifetimes. Almost 75% of all rapes are date or acquaintance rapes. These numbers may be underreported due to victim’s intense feelings of guilt and the common belief that the victim was somehow responsible for the sexual assault. Date rape is one of the most serious and complicates forms of rape secondary to controversial social issues.
Rape drugs are used by perpetrators to induce sedation and amnesia prior to sexual assault. Drugs most easily used must be tasteless, colorless, and dissolve readily.
Flunitrazepam was the first date-rape drug. It is an intermediate acting benzodiazepine that was originally marketed in 1975. It was never marketed in the US. It has been illegally imported from Mexico and costs $3-5.00. The tablet is now colored, making it less easily used as a date rape drug.
Currently, the drug most frequently used as a date rape drug is GHB-gamma hydroxyl butyrate, which will be discussed in the next Question of the Week.
As always, if there any questions, call the MTPC.
I am interested in any questions that you would like answered in "Question of the Week". Please e-mail me with any suggestions.
donna.seger@vanderbilt.edu
Donna Seger, M.D.
Medical Director, Middle Tennessee Poison Center