One sexual assault happens every 107 seconds. For something that happens so often, rape is still a taboo subject. Rape or sexual assault affects an average of 293,066 people a year. According to the rape, abuse, and incest national network, rape has decreased by 43 percent in recent years. But that doesn’t eliminate other issues relative to sexual assault, such as the date rape drug. It’s important to have knowledge on what can make us more susceptible to becoming a victim of sexual assault.
When people imagine the date rape drug, they picture a small pill. Imagining someone crushing it up and turning it into a powder so that it can mix well with your drink. What exactly is a date rape drug? A date rape drug is meant to assist in sexual assault, they have no smell, color or taste. This makes it hard for a person to know that they’re even being drugged. However, a lot of people forget that alcohol is actually the number one date rape drug. With so much influence to drink, college students are more likely to become victims of alcohol-related sexual assault.
Other types of date rape drugs are Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine. You have probably heard of the drug Rohypnol more than the others. The drug is also known as ruffies, roach, or whitey’s. Ruffies comes as a pill they are small, white, round and dissolve in liquids. The newer versions of the pill are oval and have a greenish color. The new pills contain dye that cause liquids to change color. If put into a clear liquid it will turn the drink bright blue, and if put into a dark liquid it will just become cloudy.
GHB has three forms, a pill, a white powder and a liquid with no odor or color. This date rape drug gives drinks a salty taste, but sweet drinks can over power the saltiness. Ketamine comes as a liquid or white powder. Each of these drugs has a different amount of time before your body reacts to it. Rohypnol takes 30 minutes, GHB takes 15 minutes and Ketamine is fast acting. Once your body reacts to the drugs, some can last for four hours.
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It’s important to know what the symptoms are when under the influence of these date rape drugs. Some common symptoms are dizziness, nausea, problems breathing, slurred speech, and even death. In 2014, undergraduate students at North Carolina University invented the date rape nail polish called “Undercover colors.” A woman puts on this nail polish, and stirs the drink with her finger to determine whether there are date rape drugs in her drink. If there is a presence of a drug, then the nail polish will change colors. It’s not necessarily the most sanitary thing to do, but it has the ability to protect you from these hazardous drugs. If you have no way of getting this magical nail polish, you can still take precautions. Don’t accept any drinks that you haven’t poured yourself or watch get poured. And stay close to your girls!
