-Gail Trimpe-Morrow,
ISU Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services coordinator
Cathy was having a good time. The party was in full swing and the guy she was dancing with seemed nice. Tonight, she decided, would be a night to remember.
But then, Cathy didn't know what Mr. Nice Guy had just put in her drink...
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| Gail Trimpe-Morrow gives a presentation about sexual assualt during a training seminar for students interested in joining Friendly Faces, an organization sponsored by Student Couseling Services focused on supporting survivors of sexual assault. (Photo by Katie Sowa / Staff Phootgrapher) |
Date rape isn't something most college students worry about. It seems like the plots of clichéd TV shows and bad movies. Yet students like "Cathy" are the most vulnerable group and the statistics are sobering.
- Somewhere in the U.S. a women is raped every two minutes due to date rape drugs.
- One in four women are victims of rape or attempted rape in this country alone, and 84 percent of those affected knew their attacker.
- 75 percent of men and 55 percent of women involved in date rape had been drinking or taking drugs before the attack occurred.
Sidebar: ISU students tell of encounters with date rape drugs
"It's very difficult to tell what's too much alcohol and what's being drugged," says counselor Gail Trimpe-Morrow, ISU's Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services coordinator.
“The drugs don't stay in the system too long, so definitive testing cannot happen. It's a very frightening thing."
Some general indications of being drugged include the inability to remember even if others are attempting to jog your memory, and feeling much more intoxicated than you should be, considering the amount of alcohol you've consumed.
Playing it safe, the counselor says, means taking a few simple precautions:
- Don't drink out of a punch bowl as it can be a prime target for drugs
- Don't accept a drink from someone you do not know, and watch while your drinks are prepared.
- If you put a drink down, you are done with it.
- Have friends watch out for one another and use a sober buddy system.
Also, be aware of your friends’ drinking habits. Gail Trimpe-Morrow advises you to stay with your intoxicated friends once you bring them home and call for medical help if it is necessary.
"If the worst does happen, the counselor's advice is unequivocal: "talk to someone."
"Don't ignore it, ignoring it doesn't work," she says. "You need to always remember to take care of yourself and not forget to acknowledge that something like this happened."
Some of the most common drugs used for date rape are Gamma Hydroxybutyic Acid (GHB), Ketamine, and Rohyphol. Each has slightly different side effects and can look different as well.
A good way to be aware of these common drugs is to know what they look like and the effects they can have. GHB effects include drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, loss of consciousness, loss of memory, seizures, as well as coma or even death. GHB generally comes in liquid form and is colorless and odorless. However, it can also be a white powder or pill.
Ketamine's effects are hallucinations, a loss in sense of time or identity, aggressive or violent behavior, convulsions, loss of consciousness and/or coordination, and also may cause potentially fatal respiratory failure. Ketamine is most commonly found in white powder form.
Finally there is Rohyphol, better known as "roofies". The common side effects are lowering of blood pressure, sleepiness, muscle relaxation or loss of muscle control, visual disturbances, loss of consciousness, problems speaking, memory loss and nausea.