DATE-RAPE DRUGS BAFFLE COLLEGES ACROSS STATE

Dec. 4, 2000 - College and police officials say they are struggling to get
a grasp on the elusive date-rape drugs that are becoming more prevalent on
Colorado campuses.

The drugs, used to spike drinks to incapacitate women for nonconsensual
sex, are growing in popularity but are difficult to trace because they
disappear from the body within hours.

And they are so debilitating that victims don't remember their attackers.
That makes it nearly impossible to prove a case in court, police say.

Colorado State fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha was shut down last month over
allegations members drugged at least five women at a party. But Fort
Collins police say arrests will be difficult because of a lack of evidence.
CSU officials say there was no evidence of rape in the fraternity house case.

The drugs - GHB, Rohypnol and "Special K" or ketamine - are sedatives that
are tasteless, odorless and mix easily in drinks but leave few tracks.

Women who suspect they've been drugged are being encouraged by campus
officials to freeze their urine and keep the cup they drank from as evidence.

The drugs were made illegal this year by Congress. GHB, manufactured as an
anesthetic but shunned by doctors for its unpredictability, can turn
suddenly fatal with one more sip of a drug-laden cocktail. Nationally, GHB
has caused 32 deaths.

"One more drop can cause respiratory arrest. A good experience can suddenly
turn fatal," says Amy Robertson, director of victim assistance at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. "A lot of bad things can happen on the
turn of a dime. I'm not sure students know that."

Three teaspoons of GHB causes unconsciousness for six to eight hours.

Ketamine, also potentially lethal, is used as a pet sedative and has been
stolen in a rash of Denver-area veterinary clinic burglaries since March.

Veterinarian David Komitor's Greenwood Village clinic has been broken into
four times this year. Veterinarian Steve Kromka reported two burglaries in
six weeks at his East Evans Avenue animal hospital. Many vets are refusing
to use ketamine and are posting prominent signs saying so to deter thiefs.

College officials with years of experience in tracking traditional campus
drug use can't get a handle on the elusive date-rape drugs.

"This is one of these things in which it's really hard to get ahold of,"
says Anne Hudgens, CSU director of judicial affairs, involved in the Lambda
Chi investigation.

"When people are smoking marijuana, you smell it and it stays in your
system for weeks. This is more elusive. Because of that, we don't have any
confirmed cases, but we have suspected cases." The Universities of Colorado
and Northern Colorado are struggling with the same frustration.

"We get anywhere from three to four complaints a month in our office from
students who suspect they have been dosed nonconsensually," says CU's
Robertson. "Some have been related to sexual assault and some haven't.
We've had one confirmed case."

Students first began questioning memory loss after parties three years ago,
Robertson said.

Frustrated by the inability to prosecute, drug educators around the state
are instead attempting to battle the drugs through prevention seminars
during new-student orientations, in residence halls and in fraternity and
sorority houses. Their message:

- - Don't leave a drink unattended.

- - Don't accept opened drinks.

- - Don't leave a party with anyone you don't know well.

- - At bars, accept drinks only from the bartender or server.

"The days of, 'May I get you a drink' are over," said CU police Lt. Tim McGraw.

"You have to pay attention when you're drinking," says Natalie Dillow, a
CSU senior. "You can't trust anybody. I never accept a drink from a
stranger. You have to be careful."

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, RColo., reacted angrily to the CSU incident late
last week and called on the U.S. Department of Education to take a leading
role in aggressive date-rape drug education programs - starting with
students in junior high school.

"These drugs are being used to prey on woman on college campuses all across
the country, and sadly Colorado colleges are no exception," Tancredo said.

New federal law created grants to develop tests for police to detect GHB,
Tancredo said.

"These drugs, and the individuals who use them, have no place in our
society or on college campuses," Tancredo said. "I'm confident we can clean
them up."

Meanwhile, campus police and administrators in Colorado are quickly
comparing notes with colleagues on both coasts, where daterape drugs came
into vogue earlier.

"We know it's a national trend, and we know there are schools in parts of
the country with years of experience in dealing with this, but it's new to
us," CSU's Hudgens said.

Campus drug educators say they believe some students bring the habit with
them from high school, where the drugs are popular in the rave-party scene.

The prevailing wisdom is to educate students quickly about the danger,
Hudgens said.

The danger isn't lost on CSU senior Tim White. "When we go out, we watch
each other's back," White said. "You have to make sure you hang out with
good friends you know well."

CU, CSU, Northern Colorado and others have date-rape drug awareness
programs - often as part of rape prevention and alcohol-abuse seminars.

At CU, police join with students in a theatrical presentation called "It's
Just Another Party," in which actors engage the audience in role-playing
dialogue.

"We give 40 to 60 presentations a year at dormitories, sororities,
fraternities and other campus groups," McGraw said.

McGraw tells of a suspected drink-spiking case in which a CU student was so
incapacitated that she found out from her doctor that she had been raped.
She had no clue who her attacker was.

"The absence of no doesn't mean yes," McGraw said. "Those are words to live
by because you'll certainly be tried on them. When we talk to male
audiences like fraternities, that's one point we emphasize."

Time will tell if the drugs are a trend or if they are here to stay, campus
officials say.

"It's of great concern to us. It's very much on the front burner along with
other things like alcohol abuse," McGraw said. "Any circumstance that leads
to such a significant victimization is of great concern to us."

Staff writer Coleman Cornelius contributed to this report.