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Rohypnol and Drug-Facilitated Rape

Research on sexual assault suggests that between 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually abused at some point in their lifetime. This overwhelming problem of sexual violence has in recent years become even more insidious and frightening. All around the country--including here in Santa Fe--a tasteless, odorless, colorless drug is being slipped into the drinks of unsuspecting women-who are then raped.

The drug is called Rohypnol and although record quantities continued to be seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency, Rohypnol use is on the rise and has been allegedly used to facilitate rape in every state in the U.S. Rohypnol is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless drug manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffman-LaRoche and is prescribed in over 60 countries to treat severe insomnia. It is, however, illegal in the United States. Known by various street names such as "roofies", "papas", "dulcitas", "ropes", and "roaches". Rohypnol is in the same class of drugs as Valium but is ten times more potent. Its potency is even further enhanced when mixed with alcohol. The person who has ingested Rohypnol will be functional, but her inhibitions will be markedly decreased. The drug can be illegally purchased for a minimal cost. Rohypnol has gained swift popularity with teenagers because not only is it cheap but also because its effects are quick and lingering, beginning minutes after ingestion and lasting for hours.

The signature effect of Rohypnol is that it involves a temporary amnesia. With regard to drug- facilitated rape, when Rohypnol is slipped to a potential victim, s/he will be awake, aware, less inhibited, but generally will not remember either the details of the incident or the perpetrator(s) involved. S/he is, in essence, completely defenseless. A "typical" scenario of drug-facilitated rape is as follows:

A woman is at a club with her friends, sipping a drink at a bar. She leaves her drink unattended on the counter to go to the bathroom. She returns shortly afterward and finishes her drink About 15 minutes later, she begins to feel extremely dizzy and disoriented; with delayed movements of the type one might experience from drinking excess amounts of alcohol. Staggering, nauseous, and confused, she is immediately approached by a stranger (or acquaintance) who helps her outside to get some fresh air. This is the last thing she remembers until she ìawakensî into consciousness some 8-12 hours later, naked in a strange bed or even in her own home (perpetrators often "return" the victim to her own home. If the rapist is a stranger, he will often locate the victim's address from her driving license or checkbook so she will not be able later to locate his residence). At best, she has short, "cameo-like " flashes of memory corresponding to brief moments when she "woke up" as a result of a sudden noise or pain. Usually, she will have no idea what has happened to her, but she feels as though she has had recent intercourse and intuitively knows that something is very wrong. Rohypnol cases are extremely difficult to prosecute because the drug is quickly metabolized and excreted from the body. Generally, traces of Rohypnol can be detected in the blood for up to 6 hours and in urine between 24- to 72-hours, which is barely enough time for the drugged victim to become lucid enough to contact the police.