Handheld Date-Rape Drug Detector Being Developed

CRETE, Neb. (AP) -- An assistant professor of chemistry is
developing a tiny testing kit that women can carry in their
purses and use to quickly detect date-rape drugs.

Date-rape drugs -- or "roofies'' -- such as Rohypnol are
secreted into a person's drink. The drug incapacitates the
person and causes memory loss. Men and women who have
been raped while under its influence can regain their senses
with no memory of the assault.

Rohypnol and other date-rape drugs may no longer detectable
by the time a victim is treated and tested.
"Many women do get raped and cannot prove it afterwards.'',
Holmes said. "What we want to do is determine the presence of the
drug before it ever enters the body.''


SOURCE:
LiveScience.com

This is definately one of the few useful things to come
out of medical science recently.


Comments, Opinions?

This is excellent.

I hope they make it available in little strips, like PH tests. That would pretty much eliminate the danger, at least as far as those people who take precautions are concerned. There will always be people who can't be bothered to look out for themselves.

Of course, if people take precautions, they can protect themselves. Don't accept drinks from strangers, and don't leave your drink unattended. You don't necessarily need a test to protect you.

But I have heard of isolated cases where the bartender was in on it, and in those cases, a test would be a lifesaver.

A great device, and I agree with Wyrde. Although I never took drinks from strangers hands, it has been reported of bartenders being in on such poisonings.

Its been long overdue, and is a good piece of personal protection for any woman going out on the town. Problem is, after a few normal drinks, will women remember to use it?

Well, it's long overdue as is any awareness this was even going on. I think the "date rape drug" was being used by the early eighties. Back then no one even considered it a culprit to some of the date rapes that went on.

It's intersting to one day sit in a room of friends (my age and older) when suddenly the subject of "date rape" comes up. I think it would astound people to know what doesn't really get told and how many women went through it going back that far. I really don't think anyone has a clue how bad the numbers are.....once one person admits to it, more than half the room tells a story they have never told in twenty years. I've seen this happen more than once.

A form of drink coaster has been out for quite awhile now but, I suppose there's nothing wrong with a little competition between the companies.

Especially if it brings the price down and makes the tests even more accessible.

[edit on 8/10/06 by redmage]

They've used the napkin ones down here for a long time. I know womens groups give them for free to bars and clubs. I think they may provide kind of a false sense of security. Like Skadi said, after a few drinks it may be unlikely that the woman would remember to use them, or even be able to use them properly. Btw, the napkin ones have a circle on them that you are supposed to put a little bit of your drink onto. It's probably best to just order a new drink if you needed to leave yours unattended.

Originally posted by AlphaHumana
It's probably best to just order a new drink if you needed to leave yours unattended.

Unless in those cases where the bartender is in on it, which probably is unlikely with the napkins at bars wehre they are supplied.

A problem is the number of drugs that can be used.

Rohypnol is great, but will the strips detect, say, Versed?

Versed is just WONDERFUL for this sort of thing. Much better than Rohypnol.

Not only will Versed leave you with no memory of the event, but it has this nearly magic property of "splicing" out the missing bits so that you have the impression that you were awake and aware the entire time.

disclaimer: when I say "this sort of thing" I mean the sort of thing where you want to take someone out of a crowd and talk to them or whatever, and them not remember it later. Given the pliability of someone on Versed or combos, you could have them rogered by Barney the Dinosaur and they wouldn't care or remember later.

[edit on 10-8-2006 by Tom Bedlam]