BREWER ISSUES ALERT ABOUT RAPE DRUGS: 'PROTECT YOURSELF'

Young drinkers around the city won't have to look far to get the message
about rape drugs.

In most pubs, they'll just have to lift their drink and read the coaster.

"Rape Drugs are out there. We don't want them in here," the coaster states.
"Trust your instincts. Anyone who seems drunk after drinking little or no
alcohol may have been drugged. Watch out for each other."

The Lakeport Brewing Company in Hamilton has printed 50,000 of these
coasters as a kind of thumb-nail survival kit for young women in bars
around the city and at McMaster University.

Coasters and posters with a similar message are being distributed this week
as part of a Rape Drug Awareness Campaign that was launched at the Quarters
student pub at the university yesterday.

Diana Tikasz, who works with sexual assault victims, would also like the
coasters to be distributed at house parties or campus beer bashes.

She works for the Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Care Centre of Hamilton
Health Sciences.

"We've seen a steady increase (in date rape) over the years and a dramatic
jump in 2001 and 2002," she told reporters at a press conference at McMaster.

Two years ago, 17 of the 136 women who visited the centre were suspected of
being victims of drug-assisted sexual assaults. Last year, there were 25
suspected victims among 125 women. Most of the attacks seem to occur in the
first three months of the year.

The drug of choice for rapists appears to be an odourless, colourless
substance called gamma hydroxybutyrate. Known on the street as GHB, it
induces relaxation and sleep and disappears quickly from the system.

Typically, Tikasz said, the rape victim attends a bar or house party with a
group of female friends and the drug is slipped into her drink by somebody
she knows.

Mixed with alcohol, the drug acts very quickly and she starts showing signs
of intoxication within minutes. The person who spiked her drink waits until
she's extremely intoxicated before isolating her from her companions and
taking her to a place where he can sexually assault her.

By this time, she has passed out or is barely conscious and unable to
protest or defend herself.

Even after it's over, her memory of the event may be spotty and she usually
waits several days to go for help. Many women still don't report the
incidents because they're embarrassed or aren't sure they were sexually
assaulted.

By this time, it would be hard to prove the sexual assault in court because
of the victim's foggy memory and the fact the drug has disappeared from her
system.

Krista Warnke, of the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton, said women can
lessen the risk of drug-assisted sexual assault by looking out for each
other at pubs and parties. If a companion seems to be getting drunk too
quickly, they should take her to a safe place and not allow her to leave
with anybody else.

Warnke said there's an increased concern about rape on the campus this year
because of the large crop of double cohort students. Many of the women are
below the legal drinking age.

"It's definitely a concern. We know all women are at risk of being sexually
assaulted. But statistics tell us women 16 to 24 are at the greater risk,"
she said.

The problem is compounded by the fact young women often feel it will never
happen to them and don't take the necessary precautions.

Warnke said distribution of the coasters and posters in the next few weeks
should help raise awareness and help women protect themselves.

"Because information is power, we're hoping to empower young people," she said.