CLAMPDOWN ON 'DATE-RAPE' DRUG

Tougher restrictions are being imposed on a prescription sleeping pill and
painkiller linked to date-rape cases.

The drug, Rohypnol, disorientates victims leaving them unable to fight off
their attackers.

It also clouds their memories, meaning people remember little of their
experience until days later when forensic evidence has been lost and the
drug has disappeared from their blood.

Now the Department of Health and the Home Office have agreed to tighten up
the rules governing possession of the drug, re-categorising it from
Schedule 4 to Schedule 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

This means it will be illegal for anyone to own the drug unless they can
prove it is for legal purposes.

Currently, possession of the medicinal form of the drug is allowed even if
the owner cannot demonstrate a legitimate reason for having it.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The new regulations will take effect some
time in the next few months."

Rohypnol, the brand name for Flunitrazepam, is prescribed privately in
Britain for back pain and insomnia.

It is readily available in Britain for just £1 a tablet and has gained
popularity among clubbers who use it to come down after taking Ecstasy or
speed.

The drug, which is 10 times the strength of Valium, is tasteless,
colourless and odourless, so is completely undetectable when slipped in a
drink.

Manufacturer Rosche are modifying the drug with a blue dye so it can no
longer be slipped into victims' drinks.