Imagine waking up after a night out and wondering how you got home. You look down and realize that you’re undressed, however, you don’t remember taking off your clothes before going to sleep. Two weeks later you hit your head on a shelf. The bump jars loose a horrifying memory from the previous weekend: your date forcefully holding you down, and the burning pain of your head hitting the bedpost. The memory is vivid and undeniable. You were raped, and until that moment you had not remembered the episode.
Scenarios like the one described do occur, and there has been an increase in instances like this due to a fairly new drug called GHB. The drug is gamma hydroxybutyrate-also known as Easy Lay. GHB originated in health food stores, where it was sold as a bodybuilding aid and sleeping pill. After complaints, the FDA removed it from the public. However, they were too late, and it was already being produced illegally and sold as a “party drug.”
GHB is commonly made in a clear liquid form that is colorless and odorless. When slipped into a drink, GHB dissolves immediately and is virtually tasteless. GHB takes effect within ten to thirty minutes of digestion. Symptoms include: dizziness, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, unconsciousness and “anterograde amnesia” (memory loss for the events following ingestion). These features pose a scary threat, considering that the symptoms related to the consumption of excess alcohol are similar to those of GHB.
Date-Rape drugs are certainly not a new product. However, what makes GHB harmfully different than it’s predecessors, like Rohypnol, is that it can be easily produced at home.
Even more frightening, anyone who has access to the Internet can buy the recipe and the kit with which to create the drug. Because GHB can be created at home, recipes may differ. If measured incorrectly, the result could be fatal.
Because GHB leaves the body after twelve hours and because it is fairly new, prosecutors and emergency rooms are having a hard time recognizing and pinning the drug as evidence. This only stresses the importance of alcohol awareness and safety. It is hard to imagine a drug like GHB being used within the safe bubble of Union’s gates. However, crime, rape and assault can, and do happen on this campus.
With the abundance of parties this term, Campus Safety and Safe Space would like to remind students to be aware of the opportunity for GHB and other drugs on campus.
Don’t drink beverages that come from open containers, or from people you don’t know and watch out for the safety of your friends. If you feel as though you have been a victim of a rape-drug, contact medical attention immediately.
With the awareness of GHB and other rape related drugs the opportunity for assault can be reduced, thus making our campus a safer environment.
© 1999 Concordiensis