DATE-RAPE DRUGS A GROWING THREAT

Prevention guidelines can help women from becoming victims

In California this week, a former All-Pro defensive tackle for the Oakland
Raiders football team is on trial in a case that could put new attention on
the threat posed by date-rape drugs.

Darrell Russell is accused of slipping a drug into the drink of a 28-
year-old woman. The next thing the woman said she remembers was seeing
Russell with a video camera taping sex between her and two men.

The trial may put into focus what experts say is a trend, particularly on
college campuses - using drugs to rape women.

A survey by the national Drug Abuse Warning Network showed the number of
cases treated in hospital emergency rooms involving date-rape drugs
increased from a few hundred in 1990 to nearly 7,000 in 1999.

Technically, the drugs are called ketamine, gamma hydroxy butyrate and
Rohypnol. On the street, they go by names such as "roofies," "scoop," "easy
lay" and "vitamin K."

GHB is especially insidious. A few drops of the odorless and colorless
liquid can be slipped into a drink, rendering a victim unconscious for 20
minutes. It has caused at least 60 deaths.

Just as they wouldn't walk alone down a dark alley, women need to be on
guard against date-rape drugs.

The McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois offers the
following guidelines to prevent becoming a victim:

Don't drink anything out of a punch bowl.

Monitor the behavior of friends who seem more intoxicated than the amount
of alcohol would warrant.

Never accept a drink from someone you don't know and trust.

If you hear someone "kidding" about date-rape drugs, pay attention. That
should be a warning to leave that party or individual.

Women who suspect they have been assaulted after being slipped a date- rape
drug should request a drug screen.

Men who think slipping a drug such as GHB in a drink is a harmless path to
sex should think of football player Darrell Russell, who faces 25 felony
counts and could end up in prison for many years.

In 2000, President Clinton signed a new law making possession of date- rape
drugs punishable by up to 20 years. The law is called the Hillory Farias
and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prevention Drug Act. It was named after two
teen-agers who died after date-rape drugs were put in their soft drinks.

Their stories should be enough to convince everyone of the consequences of
date-rape drugs.