By Jennifer McKean
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 5, 1997

The "Love Drug"

Arizona Daily Wildcat Jennifer McKean

It's Saturday night and you're going to a party or to a bar.

Maybe you'll finally meet somebody nice, maybe you'll run into some friends and maybe you'll have a couple of drinks. A really attractive guy, who you think you recognize from one of your classes, approaches you and offers to get you a drink. Delighted by his charm, you graciously accept. About 10 to 20 minutes later, you start to feel dizzy and sick, so the affectionate stranger kindly escorts you out of the bar to God knows where. The next morning you awaken, you're confused and your body is covered in bruises from head to toe. "Where am I?" you ask yourself. Clothes are thrown all over the room, and there's a used condom next to you in bed. You have no idea what you did or said or felt for the last eight to 10 hours of your life. Are you scared?

You feel violated, but you're not sure why. Your mind races back and forth and up and down a million miles an hour. How did I get here? Who did this to me? DRUGGED? RAPED? You can't quite remember.

The scenario above is all too common. It's happening across the country, especially on college campuses. It's called date-rape, and the illegal drug, Rohypnol (generic name flunitrazepam), is a cheap and easy way to assault women in the '90s. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. produces the drug, and it has been most popular in Florida, Texas and California, where it is easily smuggled in from Mexico.

Rohypnol, commonly known as "Rophies," "Rope," "Roofies," "Forget Me Pill" and the "love drug," has become popular in the Greek system and in residence halls, at raves, gay and lesbian bars and even in high schools. The drug leaves its victims vulnerable to rape, robbery and assault. Both men and women are at risk when Rohypnol lands in the wrong hands.

It is a highly addictive, colorless, odorless, tasteless pill about the size of a dime, and it dissolves quickly in drinks.

The drug is readily available on the streets or on the black market, and it only costs between $1 and $5 a pill. Imagine what could be done to someone's life with just a buck? Rohypnol is 10 to 20 times stronger than Valium, yet legally classified in the same group.

Just one pill has more effect on a person than if they consumed a six pack of beer. Immediate reactions to the pill often include slurred speech, a lack of coordination, blood shot eyes, muscle relaxation, loss of reality, impaired judgment, drowsiness and amnesia. If used with excessive alcohol or drugs, Rohypnol can be fatal.

Though it is illegal in the United States, it is distributed legally as a medication for severe insomnia, a sedative for surgery and to help in the reduction of seizures in more than 64 countries around the world, mainly in Europe, Mexico, South America and Asia.

Abuse of the drug is the highest it's been in seven years, studies show. The drug is currently involved in more than 2,500 criminal investigations nationwide, according to the DEA.

It's difficult to press charges against a user of Rohypnol. Most of the time, a woman does not have a precise recollection of what actually happened to her, and any number of people could have slipped the pill into her drink. If she isn't tested specifically for Rohypnol, it will not show up on a regular drug screen, and there will be no evidence of the crime.

There were at least six reported incidents of the drug in assault cases in the university area last year, the University of Arizona Police Department said.

Four students at Clemson University were arrested last year for possession with intent to distribute Rohypnol. At the University of Minnesota, "There are women found in cars without clothes on who couldn't remember anything except that they feel violated," one female student recalled.

There are already 10 suspected Rohypnol-related rapes this fall at Penn State, health authorities said, and those are only the reported cases. Let's not forget that the majority of sexual assaults are never reported.

Two 15-year-old girls were slipped Rohypnol and raped in the Bay Area while visiting a friend's apartment; they never returned home that night. The girls had been drinking soda, and then didn't remember anything until about 5 a.m. the following day. Authorities believe the girls were given the drug and then raped. Another woman who had been slipped the pill by her family friend was raped in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. She said, "It's absolutely ruined my life. I became pregnant, and my marriage ended as a result of this."

The Drug Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996 was recently passed to increase the penalties for possession and distribution of Rohypnol in the United States. A person caught with Rohypnol can be charged with a felony, given a serious fine, years of probation, drug treatment or a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, depending on the abuser's record.

Here are some simple prevention tips:

• Always go by the buddy system, and watch out for each other.
• Never leave your drink unattended.
• Never allow someone to get a drink for you unless it is in a sealed container and you open it yourself.
• Be careful with mixed drinks.
• Don't share or exchange drinks.

Jennifer McKean is a junior majoring in journalism.