FEATURES - SPIKED WITH DANGER

A powerful sleeping tablet, implicated in more than 500 assaults in the US,
is available here on prescription and on the black market, reports Alison
O'Connor

It looks as innocent as an aspirin, but it is a drug that has been linked
with rape, memory loss and frightening flashbacks. Rohypnol has been
described as a so-called "date rape" drug. It has been implicated in more
than 500 assaults in the US and it is available here on prescription and on
the black market.

Tasteless, odourless and colourless, it is 10 times more potent than Valium.
Within 20 minutes of ingestion it induces a state similar to anaesthesia
which can last for several hours. The individual may become excited,
uninhibited or agitated. Immobility and amnesia follow. Traces leave the
bloodstream within 36 hours, and it is not detectable in urine after 72
hours. Memory returns days afterwards in a fragmented manner, if at all.

In the US and the UK tales of the dangers of misuse of this drug are
regularly told. One recent story involves a woman in London who accepted a
drink from a man she did not know at a nightclub. Afterwards she felt dizzy
and disorientated. She believes she was followed outside, where she was
raped, possibly by more than one man. Tests revealed that she did not have
an excessive level of alcohol in her bloodstream. Toxicology reports have
yet to establish whether her drink was spiked with Rohypnol.

Stories about the drug are appearing with regularity in the UK press. But as
yet the panic has not hit Ireland and it appears that there has not been any
definite cases reported by women here. Gardai are reluctant to discuss it.
The Garda Press Office says they have no case under investigation involving
Rohypnol, which is a brand name for flunitrazepam. "That is not to say that
there has not been one. We are aware of its existence," said a spokesman.

Rohypnol, a benzodiazepine, is a potent tranquiliser similar in nature to
Valium. Its legitimate use is for severe sleep disorders. It is often
distributed on the street in its original "bubble packaging", adding an air
of legitimacy. It is not legal in the US, but is distributed there by drug
traffickers. In Ireland it is available on prescription.

Rohypnol, with the street name "roofies", has been found here along with
other illegal substances in drug seizures carried out by gardai. Illicit use
of the drug has been going on for a number of years.

In the early 1990s "roofies" became popular in the US among high school and
college students, particularly in Florida and Texas. They are cheap to buy,
usually under $5 per tablet. Often they are combined with alcohol,
marijuana, or cocaine to produce a rapid high. Even when taken by itself,
users can appear intoxicated. It is touted as a "parachute" for the
depression that follows a stimulant high.

There are anecdotal reports of it being added to punch and other drink at
college parties and female students waking up afterwards in a strange house
with no clothes on. Memory of the events which preceded this are very hazy.
As well as everything else they have the added worry of having had
unprotected sex. In some cases, it appears the girls were teenagers, should
not have been drinking or taking drugs, and were afraid to tell their
parents.

In Los Angeles Rohypnol was implicated in the high-profile case of identical
twins George and Stefan Spitzer, who were convicted of systematically
drugging and raping more than 26 women at their warehouse.

The drug is marketed worldwide by Hoffman-La Roche. And in conjunction with
law enforcement agencies in the US, Roche has made testing kits available
free to hospital emergency departments and rape crisis centres involved in
the investigation of assaults in which misuse of drugs is suspected.

A fact-sheet from Roche Pharmaceuticals in Ireland, describes it as a "safe
and efficacious" medicine, which has been prescribed by doctors for severe
sleep disorders since 1975. More than one million patients in 80 countries
take Rohypnol for the treatment of insomnia and related disorders.

"Rohypnol is a benzodiazepine, a class of drug which is considered one of
the safest options available today for the medical treatment of sleep and
anxiety disorders. It is prescribed by doctors and only available by private
prescription," explains Mark Rodgers, managing director of Roche
Pharmaceuticals.

He says that Roche is "extremely concerned" about reports of alleged misuse
and abuse of the drug. "As a manufacturer of medications to improve the
quality of people's health, Roche finds it extremely disturbing that a
criminal might be misusing a legitimate medical therapy to sexually assault
women," he says.

While no Irish case has come to the company's attention, Rodgers also says
that it is not aware of any cases in the UK of alleged substance-assisted
sexual assault involving Rohypnol, except from newspaper reports. "No
forensic nor police evidence has, to our knowledge, been produced to support
the reports." However, in Ireland Roche Pharmaceuticals applied to the Irish
Medicines Board in early December to have the formulation of the drug
changed to include a noticeable dye. It will be available in two months, an
incredibly speedy turnabout in terms of drug licensing regulations.

The new colour-releasing formulation of the drug dissolves slowly and
releases a noticeable bright blue colour as it dissolves. "The shape, colour
and markings of the tablet have been changed to deter potential abusers
looking for Rohypnol. The tablet is also film-coated," says Rodgers.

Warning notes have been sounded about the panic surrounding the drug. In the
UK police have noted that only one rape case has come to court in the past
six years in which it could be conclusively shown that Rohypnol was a
factor. The defendant was acquitted. However, the time limit for
toxicological evidence and the difficulties victims have in remembering do
not facilitate the collection of the evidence necessary for a conviction.

The message for women, however, is not that you are safe once you keep an
eye on your drink all night. According to Roche, the drug's name is now
becoming a a word used wrongly in the US in any suspected sexual assault
case, even when the drug was not present.

"Alcohol remains the substance most frequently associated with these types
of crimes, as confirmed by independent forensic toxicology tests on the
urine samples of 508 American women reporting a sexual assault. No drugs
were detected in 200 samples. Almost 40 per cent of the positive samples
contained more than one substance. Alcohol was detected in 185 samples,
marijuana in 81 samples, amphetamines in 52 samples, cocaine in 38 samples.
Five contained Rohypnol, and four of those contained other substances," says
Rodgers.

Women, says Olive Braiden, director of the Rape Crisis Centre, are
constantly trying to protect themselves, but it is often the familiar rather
than the unusual, such as Rohypnol, which is to blame. "You cannot live your
life constantly on a state of alert. At the end of the day the majority of
people raped and assaulted suffer at the hands of people they know and
trust. Very few are raped by strangers. We read about the cases where
strangers are involved because they are reported or in unusual
circumstances."

She has not heard of any sexual assault case in Ireland connected to
Rohypnol. However, the Rape Crisis Centre has seen a number of women who had
their drink spiked while on a night out. "They got out with a group of
friends and drink what they are used to having. Then they wake up somewhere
strange and find themselves in a situation they would not have chosen. They
would not be able to prove it, but they would believe that somebody had put
something in their drink."