DATE RAPE DRUG SURFACES

Whistler Resident Loses A Night After Slipped Potentially Lethal Drug

April Solonyka's Whistler nights are much the same. After getting off
work as the general manager of Elements at 10:30, she stops by to
Maxx Fish, the pub where her partner Jim Button tends bar, chats with
friends and locals until closing time and then heads home.

But Tuesday, Jan. 10 was different because Solonyka has no memory of
the night. She thinks someone slipped gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
into her drink.

"I have no recollection of a 10-hour period," Solonyka said.

GHB is a colourless, odourless central nervous system depressant.
According to medical health officer Dr. Paul Martiquet, it is
"dangerously unpredictable with side effects that can include coma
and death." When combined with alcohol, the drug causes memory loss
and blackouts.

"The effects hit with no warning and can look a lot like
drunkenness," Martiquet said. "Within 10 minutes the victim begins to
feel dizzy, disoriented and may feel nauseated."

The drug dissipates from the body within 24 hours, making it almost
impossible to trace unless quick action is taken.

Because she has worked in Whistler restaurants for four years and has
a strong network of friends and co-workers, Solonyka has been able to
piece together the lost evening except for a two-hour period between
two and four a.m. when Button arrived home to find her unconscious on
their bed, naked from the waist down.

"He thought I was dead," she said. "My breathing was shallow and he
had to shake me to wake me up."

Solonyka, 28, had spent the evening socializing with friends and
staff at Maxx Fish. The bar was full of young Americans up for the
week and Solonyka had also chatted with two American men in their
late 20s. When they asked her where to go to find a crowd closer in
age she offered to walk them to nearby Savage Beagle and Garfinkel's.
Although she remembers walking the men to the Savage Beagle, she
doesn't remember going to Garfinkel's or back to meet with Button two
hours later.

A sturdy 5'3", Solonyka says alcohol was not a factor. Staff at both
establishments said when she left she did not appear inebriated. When
she met up with Button shortly before 2 a.m. she chatted briefly with
him then abruptly stood up and said she had to leave.

"Normally I would wait for him to close up and we'd go home together.
But I just left without hugging or kissing him goodbye."

She left her car parked at the bus loop and walked a short distance
to their Whistler Cay Heights home.

Button arrived home two hours later to find her unconscious and
breathing raggedly. When he woke her she was unable to speak
coherently. The next day was spent visiting Whistler Health Care
Centre and RCMP. Doctors verified she had not been assaulted and
after investigation RCMP ruled out the two young men she'd guided to
the other pubs as suspects. Solonyka was extremely ill for a day and
is still having trouble with food a week later.

She doesn't know who might have slipped the drug into her drink -- or
more importantly why?

"The whole thing baffles me. I've gone over it and over it -- why
would someone do this?"

Cst. Devon Jones of Whistler RCMP says there have been few reports of
date rape drug use in Whistler, although this past week there were
two: Solonkya's on Tuesday and another the following night at a
different bar than the three she visited. The police dispatched two
plainclothes officers to observe local bars, but after comparing
information from reports ruled out any connection between the two incidents.

Jones said confirming GHB incidence is problematic because symptoms
of inebriation and GHB effects are similar.

"There is a grey area when alcohol is involved," he said.

Jones says it's imperative that women -- and men -- be cautious when
out for a night on the town.

"If you're going to go out in Whistler don't binge drink and put
yourself in a situation doing things you wouldn't normally do," Jones
said. He also advised to never leave your drinks unattended.

Solonyka says she turned away from her drink for only seconds to
greet friends. But now she advises those in similar situations to buy
new drinks.

"It's worth that extra $5 if you lose track of your drink to get up
and buy another. It's not worth missing eight -- 10 hours of your
life and not know what happened."

Jones says if anyone suspects they may have ingested the drug to see
a doctor as soon as possible and report it to police. He emphasized
that Whistler RCMP are very sensitive to this problem and that there
are several female officers on staff with whom victims can speak in confidence.

Solynka says the experience has changed her. "I'm a pretty tough
person and things roll off my back, but this, this has traumatized me."

How to avoid GHB:

* Only drink beverages that you have opened or got for yourself.

* If you do accept a drink from someone you don't know well enough to
trust, make sure it is an unopened container and that you open it yourself.

* Never put your drink down unattended, even to go to the washroom.
If you do, throw it out.

* Do not share drinks with anyone else; do not drink from a container
that is passed around; avoid open drinks such as punch.

* Do not drink anything that has an unusual taste or colour to it. A
drink that is salty or a soft drink that is flat can be signs of GHB.

* Use the "buddy" system at parties, and watch your friend's drink if
they are not alert.

* Be suspicious of eyedroppers, mouthwash bottles, and bubble
solutions -- they are often used as GHB containers.

* Remember that most women who are assaulted know their attacker.

* If you think you have been a victim, notify the police immediately.
Also, don't urinate, shower or rinse your clothes.

- -- Compiled by Dr. Paul Martiquet, medical health officer for
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, for Powell River/Sunshine
Coast/Sea-to-Sky/Central Coast regions.