DATE-RAPE DRUG CAMPAIGN CAPTURES NATIONAL ATTENTION

A campaign against date rape drugs by the Sexual Assault Treatment
Centre of Windsor has captured the attention of other Canadian rape
centres.

The assault centre is providing bar drink coasters that do double duty
over the holidays by keeping counters dry and warning women of the
dangers of date-rape drugs.

The centre launched the coaster campaign hoping to create awareness
about the increasing incidence of date-rape drugs being slipped into
the drinks of unsuspecting victims -- the vast majority of whom are
women.

About 26,000 round coasters with bright, neon pink writing warn women
to "Think before you drink." They began hitting bars and nightclubs in
the Windsor area just before Christmas.

"Date-rape drugs are out there, don't leave your drink unattended,"
reads another message printed beneath a drawing of two hands breaking
open a capsule over a beverage. The reverse side of the coaster
advises patrons to be aware of the colour, texture and taste of drinks.

"We wanted women to be on the look out and decided they'd probably
look at the coaster their drink is sitting on," said Kathy McIntosh, a
co-ordinator at the Sexual Assault Treatment Centre of Windsor and
Essex County.

"It's certainly something different," said Pat Harcolt, co-ordinator
of the Saskatoon Sexual Assault and Information Centre.

"It's something you'd look at while at the bar."

She said many local residents don't believe date-rape drugs are
prevalent in the area.

"People think it only happens in big American cities or places like
Toronto and Vancouver," Harcolt said. "But it can be
everywhere."

Casey Cruikshank, director at the Waterloo Region Sexual Assault
Treatment Centre in Waterloo, also commends the coaster campaign.

"Women shouldn't take a drink from anyone unless they've seen the
drink being poured," said Cruikshank.

She said many of the date-rape drug victims she sees are between the
ages of 14 and 24 and may not be aware of the problem. The Windsor
campaign was launched after the centre noticed an increase in the
number of women reporting sexual assaults.

"We found more women coming forward thinking they may have been
drugged before the assault," said McIntosh.

The centre receives between three and five cases of drug-induced
sexual assaults each month, she added.

Drugs like gamma hydroxbutyrate, better known as GBH, are used to
secretly sedate and sexually assault women, she said.

The clear, slightly salty liquid is often disguised in the form of
tequila shooters.

Toxicologists say date-rape drugs work because the victim is unaware
they are ingesting a substance.