FANTASY THREATENS SCHOOLIES

SEX predators have replaced rohypnol with the trendy designer drug fantasy
in their date-rape party packs as the cost of the deadly drug nosedives to
less than the price of a movie ticket, coffee and cake.

Drug authorities said a resurgence in the popularity of fantasy and a sharp
drop in the price had sparked fears of a repeat of a 1996 Gold Coast mass
overdose in the ritzy nightclub scene.

They said fantasy, also responsible for several recent overdoses at
Brisbane rave parties, now headed Queensland's burgeoning array of
date-rape drugs.

Senior police yesterday confirmed fantasy was now much cheaper and more
popular among young revellers, and also used by sexual offenders.

They said overdoses were not uncommon.

Drug Arm Australia health promotion co-ordinator Judith Hart warned the
annual rite-of-passage Schoolies Week celebration was under threat from an
influx of fantasy that had been produced locally.

"What we've seen over the past 12 months is that fantasy is now being used
by deviants for sinister purposes because, unlike new formulas of rohypnol,
it's totally colourless and cheap," Ms Hart said.

Fantasy earned a notorious reputation when eight people ended up on
life-support systems on the Gold Coast in October 1996, after a mass
overdose at a Broadbeach nightspot. Since then, other lethal drug cocktails
such as Shabu, a mixture of heroin and amphetamines, have become drugs of
choice.

However, Ms Hart warned fantasy was back in fashion.

"Fantasy has been around for a while, but we are finding it is being
embraced by a new breed of young people, because a dose is often cheaper
than a movie ticket, coffee and cake," she said.

A dose of fantasy, costing between $8 and $60, is proving increasingly
popular with young university students at dance party and nightclub venues.

The drug has recently been linked to at least eight overdoses, including
the near death of a young Brisbane woman after the Adventjah rave party in
March.

The woman stopped breathing after paramedics found her and she remained in
intensive care for two days.

Europe's top rape-drug police officer, London Detective Chief Inspector
Peter Sturman, has warned Queensland police to be more vigilant against the
array of designer drugs.

Chief Insp Sturman, author of a world-first drug-rape study for the British
Home Office, said rohypnol had become obsolete in the UK and offenders had
turned to designer drugs similar to fantasy.

Police in Queensland said there was no significant data on date-rape
victims or party-drug overdoses because many victims did not report
incidents to authorities.