Date Rape Prevention Strips & Coasters

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONSHug for Jordan, my 16-year-old granddaughter

DATE RAPE PREVENTION STRIPS & COASTERS

I wrote this piece in 2003, but believe it is still relevant today. The drink being consumed by a woman does not have to be alcoholic. Women of any age in any setting should heed the advice in the following writing.

How can a girl protect  herself when a quick, underhanded move from a devious male slips a drug into her drink—even while she’s holding it?

• Odorless, almost colorless, roofies or date rape drugs can be mixed in a drink without your knowledge. Perpetrators target unsuspecting victims, who become helpless once they consume the drugged drink. The amnestic effect allows the perpetrators to rob, rape, or otherwise harm the victim without the victim being able to remember exactly what happened, but the reminders can last for years.

She can do what is the difficult and impractical, because even a momentary distraction provides a perpetrator the instant he needs to sabotage her drink with physically and mentally disabling drugs such as gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and ketamine. She can—and must—monitor her beverage constantly.

These tasteless, colorless, odorless drugs render a woman severely impaired, even unconscious. Victims become vulnerable to sexual assaults they cannot remember, although they know something happened.

Other defenses include refusing drinks from strangers, drinking only beverages you open yourself, and using the buddy system.

Is that all a woman can do to protect herself?

Recently a business magazine article describing effective practices of new businesses informed me of another defense. The company produces a Date-Rape Drug Personal Test Kit. It includes a business-card sized test strip designed to