TEST FOR DRUG-RAPE SEDATIVE

A TEST able to detect the powerful sedative Rohypnol up to one week after
it was administered could help victims of "drug rape" piece together their
night in situations where their drinks have been spiked in nightclubs.

Rohypnol disappears rapidly from the body and existing tests are unable to
identify the drug 72 hours after being swallowed, making proof difficult to
obtain.

But a report in the latest New Scientist says scientists from the Trinity
and University colleges in Dublin have developed a more sensitive test.

The test uses one of the major metabolites of Rohypnol,
7-aminoflunitrazepam, bound to an enzyme that causes a colour change when
it comes into contact with antibodies produded by Rohypnol.

When exposed to a urine sample from someone who has taken Rohypnol, the
metabolites compete with the enzyme-metabolite, preventing it binding to
the antibodies, weakening the colour produced.

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre spokesman Paul Dillon said the
drug-rape problem was widespread in the US but only a few incidents had
been reported in Sydney, Melbourne and on the Gold Coast.

Mr Dillon said people under the influence of Rohypnol, particularly when
taken with alcohol, appear drunk and often lose control of their actions.

Mr Dillon said high doses could cause amnesia for up to 24 hours, and women
who were slipped some Rohypnol in a drink woke the next day in a strange
room not immediately remembering anything.

"It isn't often until quite later they think, I didn't get drunk', and
other people talk to them and they start to put the jigsaw pieces together.
By that time, you can't detect the drug. This is happening more often," he
said.

Mr Dillon said rape cases in which the women were drugged were often thrown
out of court in the US because the women were unable to remember the events
of the night.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski