The Roofie Foundation was founded in England in 1997 to help the victims of drug rape. According to statistics from the Roofie Foundation helpline, over 6,000 women in and men in the UK have reported being the victim of a drug rape attack since the foundation was started up in 1997.

In 2003, more than 1,000 women and men (13% of the victims were men) in Britain reported being raped while drugged, yet difficulties of proving the crime have meant that very few of these crimes have been prosecuted.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that, for now, drink spiking is risk-free for the perpetrator. All the drugs act as a partial anaesthetic and cause partial or full amnesia. Moreover, drugs like GHB leave the system within 12 hours or less. This means that a victim usually cannot remember what happened and even if she (or he) figures it out and goes to the police, a urine sample will usually prove negative. In addition, analysing a sample for an unknown drug (and there are many to choose from) can cost the police $1000 or more. So there is essentially no reliable witness to the crime and no evidence that a crime was even committed. Consequently, there is no real chance that the drink spiker will be caught—unless he either is seen in the act of putting a drug in a drink or he keeps evidence around (some rapists have made videos of their assaults).

In September 2004 the Guardian newspaper published two articles about drink spiking in the UK. It shows that one in four women who drink claim to have had their drink spiked at least once.

There are many more crimes carried out by drink spikers. In January 2005 a woman was convicted in London for drugging men’s drinks and then taking their wallets and watches. We have had reports from all over the world of men getting drugged and returning home to later find that hundreds of dollars was taken—by them—from cash machines. The victims have no recollection of the withdrawals (which are often captured on tape) or to whom they gave the money.

The Drink Detective looks for traces of the three most commonly used groups of drug- rape drugs: Benzodiazepines (including Rohypnol, Valium and Xanax), GHB (gamma-hydroxyl-butyrate), and ketamine. The Drink Detective is the first test that will detect the presence of three drug types in a wide range of drinks; and will detect them at quantities that can incapacitate you.

No one expects a woman to test every drink. In fact, we recommend using the Drink Detective only in two circumstances: if you have a reason to suspect that your drink has been spiked or if you have a stronger than expected reaction to a drink. The drugs take about 20 minutes to incapacitate you and if you find that a drink has been spiked, you would have time to get help—either from a friend or from bar staff who could call the police and ensure that you were not left alone until you got to safety.

If everyone carried a Drink Detective when drinking—in public or at a private event, drink spikers would think twice about carrying out their foul crime. Deterrence is the key.

Review of Drug Rape Drugs