RAPE DRUGS ARE WEAPONS: STUDENT

In Karly McRae's opinion, raping someone after slipping a drug in their
drink is equally as criminal as raping someone at knifepoint.

She says drugs can be a weapon too and that the federal government should
change the Criminal Code to reflect that.

"No one is held accountable," says the Brandon University student.

"Rapes occur with weapons all the time and people are charged. With these
drugs, nothing happens. People get away with it all the time."

McRae is supporting a drive by Canadian Alliance MP James Moore to have
so-called date-rape drugs classified as weapons under the Criminal Code of
Canada.

While they are illegal in Canada, date-rape drugs such as rohypnol
(commonly known as "roofies"), gamma hydroxy butyrate (GHB) or ketamine are
usually smuggled into the country.

Rohypnol is a tranquilizer that can make someone quickly intoxicated if
mixed with alcohol, while GHB and ketamine are anesthetics that can cause
people to lose their inhibitions or even hallucinate.

Moore, who held an event at Ottawa's Carleton University yesterday to raise
the profile of the problem, has introduced a bill in the House of Commons
that labels the drugs as weapons and establishes national guidelines for
documenting evidence of sexual assault.

"In recent years, a new kind of violence against women has reared its ugly
head at parties, on campuses and in nightclubs," says Moore, a British
Columbia MP.

"Date-rape drugs have become violent weapons used to victimize women. It is
long overdue for the government to act."

Here in Brandon, members of the Canadian Alliance club at BU have been
circulating a petition and giving out information for the past two weeks.

So far, they have 300 student signatures. Their petition and others will be
sent to Ottawa to be included with the private members bill.

"We've got about 300 signatures, which isn't bad when you consider this is
a school of just over 2,800 students," says Alliance club president Travis
Smyth.

McRae says people have to realize that date-rape can happen in a small
place like Brandon just as easily as it can in a large centre.

The last time Brandon police seized a stash of rohypnol was last March,
when they found $450 worth of the drug in a Brandon home.

Const. Grant McKay of the police department's vice unit says common sense
is the key in avoiding would-be druggers.

"Buy your own drinks," says McKay. "If you go out to the dance floor, don't
leave your drinks unattended. If someone's buying you a drink, go with them
to the bar."

McRae, who is taking names for the petition, finds that everyone seems to
know someone who has been drugged and taken advantage of.

"It comes up everywhere. It happens in Brandon. I've even had people come
up and say 'Oh yeah, it happened in my town of 300 people.' There are lots
of cases out there. People just don't seem to talk about it."

The petition will be going around BU for the rest of the week.