Your drink maybe spiked with drugs!

Going out with that guy you don't know too well? Better keep an eye on your drink ...
She walks into a swanky bar wearing a smart haute couture outfit as her date orders a bottle of Blanquette de Limoux,her favourite sparkling wine.The man,a suave,charming professional in his mid-30 s,showers her with compliments and the conversation flows as effortlessly as the liquor.The night seems perfect.But as she takes the last few sips of her drink,Kavya (name changed) is overwhelmed by a dizzy feeling.Her vision soon blurs and her body involuntarily shuts down all sensory activities.Hours later,she wakes up in a desolate area,her dress in tatters and her body soaked in blood and semen.The 26-year-old public relations executive is brutally date-raped by her colleague, who she refuses to name during an hour-long conversation with a reputed sexologist in Mumbai.She doesn't go to the cops or to the anti-sexual harassment unit of her corporate office. She feels she has no case against her tormentor. She only has a case against herself.
Peddler's paradise
Kavya is not alone in her misery. In a country where the young have taken to partying with a vengeance,and where the old fears and anxieties of meeting up with strangers or casual acquaintances are fast melting away in the neon lights of unsleeping cities and throbbing pubs, Kavya is just one of the numerous women who are drugged,raped and dumped.
With the International Narcotics Control Bureau (INCB) putting India on the radar as a country that is turning into a huge transit point for illegal export of date-rape drugs, law enforcement officers say they are at a loss to deal with the "diabolic and complex situation". They say it is an international trend that is reflecting on "Indian metros on speed''.
Globally,too,as Margarethe Ehrenfeldner,chief of the psychotropics control section at the INCB,told TOI-Crest,there is deep concern."The Commission on Narcotic Drugs,during its last session in March 2010,adopted resolution 53/7 which,among other issues,requests governments to research the extent of the (date-rape ) problem and asks INCB and UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) to gather more information on this subject.For example,the substances involved,the modus operandi of the assailants,awareness raising of the general public on actions to be taken by victims after such assault,and other counter measures taken by governments to address the problem,'' she says,replying to a query via email.B S Nunwal,additional commissioner,Customs (Mumbai),agrees with Ehrenfeldner."The date-rape drug phenomenon is evolving rapidly as sexual abusers attempt to circumvent rigorous drug controls by using substances not restricted by international drug conventions," he says.Last year alone,11 cases of ketamine hydrochloride,valued at Rs 62.27 lakh,were seized in India.Two of the biggest hauls were made at the Chennai airport,where almost 400 kg of the substance were confiscated."These drugs are usually exported to places like Bangkok,Thailand,Indonesia and Malaysia,'' the officer says."We book drug traffickers under the Indian Customs Act,1962,and the Foreign Trade Development & Regulation Act,1992." Talking about the drugs and their trade,Yogesh Deshmukh,deputy director (operations) at the Narcotics Control Bureau,New Delhi,says,"Ketamine is a restricted export item,but this drug,along with others like flunitrazepam and gammahydroxybutyrate (GHB),all of which can be considered date-rape drugs,do not fall under the purview of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,1985.We have proposed amendments to be made to the Act."
What's the score?
Numbers in such a crime - where victims feel they were as responsible for their plight as the perpetrator - are hard to come by,says K K Aggarwal,senior consultant of medicine and cardiology at Delhi's Moolchand Hospital.He has seen a significant growth in the number of such cases."The number of date-rape victims in the recent past has increased phenomenally.Shockingly,some of these drugs are very easy to make in a lab.For instance,all you need to do is type 'how to make GHB' and search for suggestions on the internet.Hundreds of sites will give you step-by-step instructions."
With street-names like 'great hormones at bedtime','cherry meth','liquid ecstasy' and 'fantasy',GHB,a central nervous system sedative,scores well among youngsters looking for a sexual tryst on their night out.If one trawls the web,ketamine is freely available at a premium postage price,making access to these so called 'on-prescription' drugs alarmingly easy.
Shauvick Mathur (name changed),a teenager who's a regular at Delhi nightclubs,says his friends often source the 'forget-me' pill from touts "for a couple of grand''.But,he says,defending his gang,"There is no attempt to assault."
It's seldom as harmless as Mathur makes it seem,though.Sex and drugs form a cocktail that can be very combustible.Supreme Court lawyer Shilpi Jain recounts an incident and says,"I was handling a case a few years back where a Delhibased girl was gang-raped after being drugged.Conviction in that case became very difficult,because the complainant was unable to remember the sequence of events.In rape cases,the account provided by the victim is crucial and in its absence,or ambiguity,the case weakens substantially."
While non-consensual sex is irrefutably recognised as rape,women under the influence of these drugs can get confused,unable to discern consent from exploitation."It's their guilt that masks the crime," says Aggarwal.Jain adds that "women don't take a toxicology report or rush to the police since they happen to know the assailant.Many even fear defamation,because they are not sure if they've been raped or not."
Aggarwal warns,"These drugs are tasteless,odourless and colourless - there is no way a prospective victim can assess whether the drink has been spiked." Mumbai-based sexologist Shirish C Malde adds,"The kidney and the liver completely metabolises these drugs and after 72 hours no trace of it is found in the victim's bloodstream.Coupled with retrograde amnesia,these drugs make for the perfect weapon in the hands of a sexual predator."
At a steep price
Yusuf Merchant,an anti-drug crusader with vast experience in drug-related cases,says,"It's very easy to change the molecular structure of a drug and then design it to suit one's purpose.They then become 'designer drugs' that are a rage among regulars at rave parties." While these substances can be sourced from peddlers in clubs and pubs,Merchant says pharmacies that sell these pills without a prescription are also abetting the date-rape phenomenon."It is very important that the government revoke the licenses of such pharmacies and put the culprits behind bars."
As recently as February 22 this year,a case against Secunderabad-based Shruti Bulk Drugs Private Ltd was registered for allegedly exporting 3,300 kg of ketamine without a license over the span of a few years.It was estimated that the drug exported would fetch a whopping Rs 33 crore in the international market.Drug enforcement agencies say substances like ketamine cost around Rs 30,000-35,000 per kg,but they sell abroad for Rs 8-10 lakh per kg.
Unhappy hours?
Ashish Nagpal,who has been DJing for eight years in India and abroad,says it's mostly young girls inexperienced with drinks who tend to be easy prey.Deepali Narula,CEO of the popular F-bar and Lounge,New Delhi,says,"We have two to three entry points where guards check out patrons - both men and women - from head-to-toe.The club has a zero-tolerance policy towards drugs." But there are many who slip in the deadly pills easily.After all,how difficult can it really be to hide a tiny pill and sneak it past the guards?
The smart ones take their security in their own hands.A regular at Delhi haunts,19-year-old Shrayoni Baruah (name changed) believes in being prepared for the worst."I always go by my instinct.I keep a can of pepper spray,a pocket knife and my phone handy.And most importantly,I never leave my drink unattended."
Courting trouble
Lucie Blackman,an English woman,worked as a hostess in Roppongi,Tokyo.On July 1,2000,she went on a dohan(paid date) with a customer from Casablanca.No one heard from her again. On February 9,2001, Blackman's dismembered body was found buried in a shallow grave in a seaside cave at Miura near Tokyo, just a few hundred meters from Joji Obara's apartment. Obara was later charged with drugging, raping and killing Blackman On February 2005,Leigh (only first name used) met with Jeffrey Marsalis on an online dating site.Marsalis was an impostor who posed as a doctor looking for love.He was an unemployed paramedic and nursing-school dropout whose true profession,prosecutors assert,was full-time predator.He laced Leigh's drink when they went out on a date in downtown Philadelphia and repeatedly raped her on their first date.In a bizarre,masochistic twist,Leigh went on a second date with Marsalis to ascertain whether she was raped.Leigh was again drugged and raped on the second date by Marsalis In 2006,the media reported that Bill Cosby had settled a lawsuit with a woman alleging he had sexually assaulted her.The woman claimed that Cosby assaulted her at his house in early 2004 after giving her some blue pills.The pills had rendered her semiconscious and she awoke to find her bra undone and her clothes in disarray
Poison plate
Roofies
Rohypnol,or flunitrazepam,is 10 times stronger than valium and is widely available on prescription in Europe and Latin America.It decreases blood pressure,causes dizziness,disorientation,and loss of motor coordination along with impaired judgment;blackouts and memory loss.The drug acts within 20 minutes and the affect lasts for eight to 12 hours
Cat-killer
Ketamine,an anaesthetic used primarily on animals,has both pain relief and memory loss effects.Given to humans,it results in intoxication,rendering one temporarily unable to move or feel pain.Usually,this state lasts only 30 to 60 minutes,and can be accompanied by hallucinatory experiences similar to those created by LSD
GHB
Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a fairly common drug with a wide range of uses.Some weightlifters use it for muscle growth,while recreational drug users take it in combination with other drugs.Some use it for its prosexual side effects (such as disinhibition and heightened sense of touch).Components that make up GHB can be found in health food stores and can be bought on the internet.
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