DATE RAPE DRUGS VS. BOOZE

Re: Conservative MP James Moore's motion to classify "date rape drugs" as
weapons.

Any sexual assault is tragic. However, it is a disservice to your readers
to accept the facts given to you without question. Mr. Moore's statement
that GHB and Rohypnol are "always a precursor to a greater crime" is false.
What he may find hard to grasp is that people take these substances
willingly for their effects. Regarding their use as aids to assault, a 1998
study of rape victims who said they were drugged found that only one per
cent tested positive for GHB while 36 per cent tested positive for alcohol
despite the fact that GHB is detectable for a longer period of time. Many
studies find that a majority of date rape victims were drinking.

It seems that alcohol is more widely used as a date rape drug and it is
freely available. It is questionable what banning "date rape drugs" will
accomplish. Rape is already illegal, however, it still occurs. This bill
will only harm people who use politically incorrect intoxicants and not the
more widely used (and conducive to the abuse of others) drug that is alcohol.

Pablo Miramontes