Sexual assault

Provides counselling, advice and support to survivors of rape or sexual assault. 

Although the most well-known date rape drug is Rohypnol (see Chapter 5), the effects of GHB have also been exploited and used to commit sexual assault. In fact, the number of GHB-related sexual assaults in recent years has paralleled or even surpassed those involving Rohypnol. The number of GHB-related sexual assaults may be vastly underestimated because GHB is metabolized rapidly by the body and is often not detectable in blood or urine when the victim reports the... 

They have effects that are greatly enhanced when mixed with alcohol, making the victim vulnerable to sexual assault even after one drink. 

They produce amnesia, so the victim may not even recall that a sexual assault has taken place and may not immediately go to the police. 

Sexual assault prophylaxis - 100 mg twice daily for 7 days plus ceftriaxone and metronidazole. 

Figure 1.2 In the photograph above. Dr. Jo Ellen Dyer, a pharmacist and toxicologist who specializes in GHB and sexual assault, serves as an expert witness at the rape trial of Max Factor heir, Andrew Luster. In 2003, Luster was convicted of raping a series of women after he used GHB, a "date rape" drug, to seduce his victims.

Some abusers mix barbiturates with alcohol or marijuana in order to create a better high. A different kind of abuse occurs when rapists mix another drug, Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), into a woman s drink in order to render her incapable of resisting a sexual assault. The capacity for criminal abuse has led to higher penalties for its possession or use. 

Dowd, S.M. et al., The behavioral and cognitive effects of two benzodiazepines associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault, J. Forensic Sci., 47, 1101, 2002. 

The first news accounts that cite use of Rohypnol as a date rape drug are published. Rohypnol becomes one of more than 20 drugs that law enforcement officials assert are used in committing sexual assaults. 

KETAMINE An anesthetic abused for its mind-altering effects that is popular as an illicit club drug. It is sometimes used to facilitate sexual assault, or date rape. 

In 1996, Congress passed the Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996, which increased the federal penalties for those who used any controlled substance to aid them in sexual assault. This law makes it a punishable crime to give someone a controlled substance without that person s knowledge of it and with the intent to commit a violent crime against that person. It also includes stiffer penalties for those who possess or distribute this drug. 

Amphetamine abusers and addicts become preoccupied with when and where they will be able to get their next dose. Relationships with family and friends frequently deteriorate as the drug takes center stage in the addict s life. Money problems may began to surface as the addict funds his growing habit. Substance abuse also contributes to crime, domestic violence, sexual assault, drop-out rates, unemployment, and homelessness. It is also a factor in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancy. 

The DEA has documented at least 15 sexual assault cases involving 30 victims under the influence of GHB. In a study of urine samples from victims of alleged sexual assault, 711 urine samples were positive for drugs, including 48 that tested positive for GHB. In response to a 1999 Glamour magazine survey, 19% of female college students questioned said they knew someone who was the victim of date-rape related to GHB. 

Several cases have documented the use of GHB to incapacitate victims of sexual assault. Along with another club drug, Rohypnol (known most commonly as roofies), GHB is often called a date rape drug. Both Rohypnol and GHB have been implicated in date rape cases. 

Between 1996 and 2001, the U.S. Dmg Enforcement Administration (DEA) received reports of at least 15 sexual assault cases believed to involve GHB. Prosecuting rape cases that may involve GHB are particularly difficult because the drug causes memory loss in the victim, an effect called retrograde amnesia. GHB also moves so quickly through the body that it often is not detectable in blood or urine tests by the time the person arrives at a hospital. 

Use of GHB can impair judgment and cause shortterm (retrograde) amnesia, increasing the possibility for risky behavior and sexual assault. It also impairs ability to drive, increasing the risk for a car accident. If use is long term, the abuser risks unknown health consequences and, if use is discontinued, the abuser is subject to potential withdrawal illness. 

DATE RAPE A sexual assault crime in which victims know the attackers and are drugged or otherwise coerced into a sexual situation against their will or without their knowledge. 

The DEA has documented approximately 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement investigations involving the distribution or possession of Rohypnol within the United States since 1985. The cases are spread across 38 states. However, at least two-thirds of those cases are in Florida and Texas, according to testimony given before Congress in 1999 by Terrance Woodworth, Deputy Director of the DEA s Office of Diversional Control. Since 1994, at least nine people have been convicted of sexual assault in five state court cases in which there was evidence that Rohypnol was used to incapacitate the victim. The DEA is aware of 17 other sexual assault cases that took place between 1994 to 1998 in which there is evidence to suggest Rohypnol was used. 

Schwartz, R., R. Milteer, and M. LeBeau. Drag Facilitated Sexual Assault ( Date Rape ). Southern Medical Journal 93, no. 6 (June 2000) 558-61. 

A number of street drugs have tranquilizing effects and are often associated with sexual assaults in the United States. These so-called date-rape drugs include ... 

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