Date rape and date rape drugs

http://www.911rape.org/drugs/index.html

This site gives a good overview of both GHB and Rohypnol- it's effects and characteristics.

Don't drink anything that has an unusual taste or appearance (e.g., salty taste, excessive foam, unexplained residue). From the RAINN link to the Santa Monica rape crisis center

Date rape drug hotline: National Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

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More information:

http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofax/RohypnolGHB.html

Information and educational materials on Rohypnol and GHB directed toward college students are available from the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center at 1-800-END-RAPE (1-800-363-7273). These materials are also being distributed by the U.S. Department of Justice to law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

"Rohypnol, GHB, and ketamine are all central nervous system depressants. Lower doses of Rohypnol can cause muscle relaxation and can produce general sedative and hypnotic effects. In higher doses, Rohypnol causes a loss of muscle control, loss of consciousness, and partial amnesia. When combined with alcohol, the toxic effects of Rohypnol can be aggravated.14 The sedative effects of Rohypnol begin to appear approximately 15–20 minutes after the drug is ingested. The effects typically last from 4–6 hours after administration of the drug, but some cases have been reported in which the effects were experienced 12 or more hours after administration.15

GHB has been shown to produce drowsiness, nausea, unconsciousness, seizures, severe respiratory depression, and coma. Additionally, GHB has increasingly become involved in poisonings, overdoses, date rapes, and fatalities."

A pdf article on date rape drugs and how the experience affects the victim:

"How Victims’ Inability to Recall
What Happened Affects the
System’s Response.
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Many aspects
of a rape investigation are facilitated by a victim’s ability to describe what happened. The victim’s narrative helps guide the medical/evidentiary examination and the police investigation.
In addition, it may be an important consideration in prosecutor filing decisions and judgments about credibility. When victims of drug-facilitated rapes cannot give a complete narrative, they
often encounter suspicion, disbelief, and/or frustration. Their inability to supply information that could assist the investigation and/or prosecution compounds their sense of helplessness. How People Misjudge and Minimize Victims’ Trauma. Because most victims
of drug-facilitated rapes have no memory of the sexual assault, people
may mistakenly minimize the trauma they suffered. One victim was told, “You’re lucky you can’t remember, you won’t suffer as much as other victims.” For all rape victims, the loss of control experienced during an assault is profoundly traumatic. In drug-facilitated rapes, the additional deprivation of cognition during the assault, combined with anterograde amnesia afterwards, subjects the victim to an extreme form of powerlessness...
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How Drugging Is a Unique Form
of Trauma.
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Many of the difficulties victims face in the aftermath of these
assaults are due to the effects of the drugs given by offenders. The surreptitious drugging of a victim is, in and of itself, a cruel and criminal violation of the person. Some victims describe
this aspect of the trauma as “mind rape.” The drugging should be recognized as a separate and distinct act of victimization in addition to any other acts of abuse and degradation to which the victim was subjected. How Being Unable to Forget Compares With Being Unable to
Remember. In the aftermath of rape, most victims suffer acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. One of the most disturbing symptoms is their inability to forget what happened. The trauma is reexperienced repeatedly. Victims commonly have recurrent, intrusive recollections of the rape, including thoughts, flashbacks, and nightmares. For victims of drug-facilitated rapes, this aspect of the aftermath may be experienced differently. Because they cannot recall what happened during a significant time period, they have to cope with a gap in their memory. They experience
the horror, powerlessness, and humiliation of not knowing what was done to them. They can only imagine what happened.”"

http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?DISAMBIGUATION=true&FUNCTION=search&SERVER2=server2&SERVER1=server1&PARAMETER=ghb

Medline is a very well respected source of medical information. Rohypnol and GHB are not listed under the alphabetical drug search. You must enter the terms into the main search engine. This link will take you to all available information medline has on the subject.

http://www.popcenter.org/Problems/problem-acquaintance.htm

Acquaintance Rape of College Students

"Rape is the most common violent crime on American college campuses today. This guide describes the problem of acquaintance rape of college students, addressing its scope, causes and contributing factors; methods for analyzing it on a particular campus; tested responses; and measures for assessing response effectiveness."

http://www.projectghb.org/what_is_ghb.htm

Project ghb.org

"Description: A clear liquid. Looks just like water. Can be mistaken for water because it is usually found in a small (30ml) clear plastic bottle, a water bottle, or even Gatorade bottles, which contains several doses. One quick taste, and you'll know it's not water. Not as common, but also found as a white powder. Infact powder use is on the rise!

Effects: Intoxication, increased energy, happiness, talking, desire to socialize, feeling affectionate and playful, mild disinhibition, sensuality, enhanced sexual experience, muscle relaxation, loss of coordination due to loss of muscle tone, possible nausea, difficulty concentrating, loss of gag reflex.

Many people have bad reactions. These can include nausea, headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, amnesia, vomiting, loss of muscle control, respiratory problems, loss of consciousness, being conscious but unable to move, and death- Especially when combined with alcohol or other drugs.

Effects of large doses: Disinhibition, sedation, desire to sleep, rambling incoherent speech, giddiness, silliness, difficulty thinking, slurred speech, passing out, and death. Here's one scenario: While You Were Sleeping - Online Presentation of GHB Dangers
***WARNING - if your friend passes out, always seek medical attention immediately, no matter what anyone else tells you."

http://virlib.ncjrs.org/vict.asp?category=50&subcategory=114

Official documents on date rape to download. Look here for technical info.

http://www.drugstory.org/drug_info/otherdrugs.asp#physical

This site has lots of links to other sites on date rape drugs. It’s purpose is for journalists to research their articles.