Date rape is the term for a rape committed by someone you know instead of a stranger. A significant percentage of people, especially women, have experienced this kind of sexual attack. Many times, drugs are used to facilitate date rape. Because of this phenomenon, those drugs are often known as date rape drugs. How can you tell if you or someone you know has been given one of these substances? A brief explanation of their potential effects will help you answer this important question and help you find out if you need a women’s trauma treatment program.
Types of Date Rape Drugs
Generally speaking, using a rape drug aims to incapacitate someone and make them easier to manipulate. People committing rape can use many different kinds of drugs for this purpose. They can also use alcohol. However, certain specific drugs are closely identified with date rape.
Perhaps the most well-known rape drug is Rohypnol, also known as roofies or ruffies. The two other most widely identified date rape substances are GHB and ketamine. All three of these drugs are prescription medications.
When not used as a date rape drug, they each have a range of legitimate medical uses.
Rohypnol or Roofie Drug Effects
Rohypnol is a brand-name version of flunitrazepam, a benzodiazepine sedative. It is both odorless and tasteless. When dissolved in a drink, ruffie drugs may also appear colorless. How can you tell if someone has given you roofie drugs? Common signs that they’re in your system include:
- Confusion
- Extreme sleepiness
- Unusual weakness
- Difficulty moving your muscles
- Breathing difficulties
Ruffie drugs may also make you forget what happened to you while under their influence.
Effects of Being Drugged for Sex With GHB
Gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, is a central nervous system depressant used to treat narcolepsy. Like Rohypnol, it is tasteless, odorless, and typically colorless when slipped into a drink. If you’re drugged for sex with GHB, potential effects include:
- Confusion
- Sluggishness
- Vomiting
- Visual or sound-based hallucinations
- Fatigue
As with Rohypnol, you may also experience amnesia.
Effects of Ketamine as a Date Rape Drug
Ketamine is an anesthetic used on both humans and animals. Along with GHB and Rohypnol, it shares the traits of odorlessness and tastelessness. Ketamine is a dissociative drug. This means that it alters your perception of yourself in relation to reality. The effect can be highly disorienting. In addition, the drug can cause you to hallucinate. Other potential signs of its use include nausea and an elevated heartbeat.
Alcohol vs. Date Rape Drugs
There is good reason to be concerned about exposure to a date rape drug. However, don’t overlook the danger associated with alcohol itself. Far more people use alcohol than rape drugs. And on their own, the effects of drinking can be just as incapacitating as those of Rohypnol, GHB, or ketamine.
This fact helps explain why alcohol is involved in many more date rape incidents than date rape drugs themselves. What’s more, much of the danger of these drugs stems from their combined effects with alcohol. That’s true because they add to the disorienting effects of alcohol intoxication.
Learn More About Sexual Assault Drugs and Alcohol Use at Women’s Recovery
Need more information on the substances used to facilitate date rape and resources on date rape prevention? Talk to the experts at Women’s Recovery. We’ll help you fully understand the risks of exposure to them.
Women’s Recovery is also your source for women-focused alcohol treatment. Our specialized programs can help you break the cycle of heavy drinking. This will not only support your recovery from the effects of alcohol addiction. It may also help you decrease your exposure to alcohol-related date rape. To learn more about our services, call us today at 833.754.0554 or fill out our brief online form.
