Date rape drug

In slang, a Mickey Finn (or simply a Mickey) is a drink laced with a psychoactive drug or incapacitating agent (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge, with intent to incapacitate them. Serving someone a "Mickey" is most commonly referred to as "slipping someone a mickey". Drink spiking is common practice by predators at drinking establishments who often lace alcoholic drinks with sedative drugs.

Multiple reports of needle spiking were reported by young women in the United Kingdom from 2021 onwards.[9][10]

On 27 October 2021, the Garda Síochána (Irish police) began an investigation after a woman was spiked with a needle in a Dublin nightclub.[11]

Alcohol, consumed voluntarily, is the most commonly used drug involved in sexual assaults. Since the mid-1990s, the media and researchers have also documented an increased use of drugs such as flunitrazepam and ketamine to facilitate sexual assaults in the context of dating. Other drugs that have been used include hypnotics such as zopiclone, methaqualone and the widely available zolpidem (Ambien), sedatives such as neuroleptics (anti-psychotics), chloral hydrate and some histamine H1 antagonists, common recreational drugs such as ethanol, cocaine, and less common anticholinergics, barbiturates, opioids, PCP, scopolamine,[12] nasal spray ingredient oxymetazoline,[13][14][15] and certain GABAergics like GHB. Also gamma-Butyrolactone is often referred to be used in sexual assaults.[16]

Researchers agree that the drug most commonly involved in drug-facilitated sexual assaults is alcohol,[2] which the victim has consumed voluntarily in most cases. In most jurisdictions, alcohol is legal and readily available and is used in the majority of sexual assaults.[13] Many perpetrators use alcohol because their victims often drink it willingly, and can be encouraged to drink enough to lose inhibitions or consciousness. Sex with an unconscious victim is considered rape in most jurisdictions and some assailants have committed "rapes of convenience", assaulting a victim after he or she had become unconscious from drinking too much.[17]

Alcohol consumption is known to have effects on sexual behavior and aggression. During social interactions, alcohol consumption causes more biased appraisal of a partner’s sexual motives while impairing communication about and enhancing misperception of sexual intentions, effects exacerbated by peer influence about how to behave when drinking.[18] The effects of alcohol at the point of forced sex commonly include an impaired ability to rectify misperceptions and a diminished ability to resist sexual advances and aggressive sexual behavior.[18]

The Blade released a special report, "The Making of an Epidemic," criticizing a study conducted in the 1990s that concluded that 55% of rape victims had been intoxicated. According to The Blade, the study specifically ignored an Ohio statute that excluded "situations where a person plies his intended partner with drink or drugs in hopes that lowered inhibition might lead to a liaison." The author of the study later admitted that the wording of the survey had been ambiguous.[19]

The increase of sexual assaults on college campuses has been attributed to the social expectations of students to participate in alcohol consumption; social norm dictates that students drink heavily and engage in casual sex.[20]

Various studies have concluded the following:

• On average, at least 50% of college sexual assault cases are associated with alcohol use.[18]
• On college campuses, 74% of the perpetrators and 55% of the victims had been drinking alcohol.[18]
• In 2002, more than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 were victims of alcohol-related sexual assault in the U.S.[21]
• In violent incidents recorded by the police in which alcohol was a factor, about 9% of the offenders and nearly 14% of the victims were under age 21.[21]

Zolpidem (Ambien) is one of the most common date-rape drugs according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.[22]

Benzodiazepines (tranquilizers), such as Valium, Librium, Klonopin, Xanax, and Ativan, are prescribed to treat anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, and several other conditions, and are also frequently used recreationally. Benzodiazepines are often used in drug-facilitated sexual assaults, with the most notorious being flunitrazepam (chemical name) or Rohypnol (proprietary or brand name), also known as "roofies," "rope," and "roaches."[23][24]

The benzodiazepines midazolam and temazepam were the two most common benzodiazepines utilized for date rape.[25]

Benzodiazepines can be detected in urine through the use of drug tests administered by medical officials or sold at pharmacies and performed at home. Most tests will detect benzodiazepines for a maximum of 72 hours after it was taken. Most general benzodiazepine detection tests will not detect Rohypnol: the drug requires a test specifically designed for that purpose. One new process can detect a 2 mg dose of Rohypnol for up to 28 days post-ingestion.[14][26] Other tests for Rohypnol include blood and hair tests. Because the most commonly used drug tests often yield false negatives for Rohypnol, experts recommend use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis.[1][5][27]

Rohypnol (Flunitrazepam) pills are typically small and dissolve readily into drinks without significantly affecting their taste or color, allowing the pills to be easily administered surreptitiously to victims.[28]

In one 2002 survey of 53 women who used Rohypnol recreationally, 10% said they were physically or sexually assaulted while under its influence.[5] If enough of the drug is taken, a person may experience a state of automatism or dissociation. After the drug wears off, users may find themselves unable to remember what happened while under its influence (anterograde amnesia), and feeling woozy, hung-over, confused, dizzy, sluggish and uncoordinated, often with an upset stomach. They may also have some difficulty moving their limbs normally.[1][5][27]

Rohypnol is believed to be commonly used in drug-facilitated sexual assaults in the United States, the United Kingdom, and throughout Europe, Asia and South America.[29] Although Rohypnol's use in drug-facilitated sexual assaults has been covered extensively in the news media, researchers disagree about how common such use actually is. Law enforcement manuals describe it as one of the drugs most commonly implicated in drug-facilitated sexual assaults,[1] but according to research conducted by Michael Robertson from the San Diego Medical Examiner's office and Dr. Mahmoud El Sohly of El Sohly Laboratories,[30] test results indicated that flunitrazepam was only used in around 1% of reported date rapes according to Robertson and 0.33% according to urine lab tests done by El Sohly, of the rape-kits that actually get tested in time. Despite having a long half-life (18–28 hours) an incorrect belief is that Rohypnol is undetectable 12 hours after administration which may result in victims failing to get a blood or urine test the following day.

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a central nervous system depressant. It has no odor and tastes salty,[31] but the taste can be masked when mixed in a drink. [32]

GHB is used recreationally to stimulate euphoria, to increase sociability, to promote libido and lower inhibitions.[33] It is sold under names such as Rufies, Liquid E and Liquid X. It is usually taken orally, by the capful or teaspoon.[34]

From 1996 to 1999, 22 reports of GHB being used in drug-facilitated sexual assaults were made to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. A 26-month study of 1,179 urine samples from suspected drug-facilitated sexual assaults across the United States found 4% positive for GHB.[33] The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) says that in the United States GHB had surpassed Rohypnol as the substance most commonly used in drug-facilitated sexual assaults, likely because GHB is much more easily available, cheaper and leaves the body more quickly.[33][35] GHB is only detectable in urine for six to twelve hours after ingestion.[35]

Ayahuasca has been used in some ayahuasca retreats to sexually abuse ayahuasca tourists.[36][37][38][39]

MDMA is an empathogen. Although it is not sedating like other date rape drugs, it has been used to facilitate sexual assault.[40][41] It can increase disinhibition and sexual desire.[42] Often Ecstasy is combined with amphetamines or other drugs.