DRUGS AS WEAPONS

Private member's bills usually sink like a stone in the House of Commons.

An MP puts a bill together to please one segment of his or her
constituency, and everyone knows it's more a PR gesture than a serious
attempt at writing new legislation.

That isn't the case with MP James Moore's motion to have date-rape drugs
classified as weapons under the Criminal Code. This is a step the
government should have instituted, not left to the Port
Moody-Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam Member of Parliament to promote.

Moore points out that date-rape drugs such as GHB and Rohypnol are easily
slipped into drinks and food.

They act rapidly, rendering the victims unconscious and unresponsive with
little or no memory of what happens while the drug is active in the system.

All traces of the drug can leave the body within 72 hours, and they do not
show up in routine toxicology screenings or blood tests.

Date-rape drugs are now treated like heroin or cocaine under the Criminal
Code, not as the weapons they are.

Campaigns on college campuses and in clubs are making students aware of the
need to protect themselves from these drugs, but that's not enough.

The Criminal Code must keep up with the chemistry that makes a tasteless,
odourless substance a weapon of sexual assault, just like a knife or a gun.