Powerless

On a warm August night, freshmen girls marked their start of their first week of college with drinks, foreshadowing the parties to follow in upcoming semesters.

But for one female undergraduate, the first days of college life were filled with sickness and shock.

"I went to a party the first weekend I was here, where there were people I'd just met," said a female student who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "I didn't know anyone at the party, and I had about a half a glass of punch mixed with liquor."

According to the student, the sickness that ensued was unlike any of her previous experiences with alcohol.

"I only had a half a glass or so, and it felt like I lost control," she said. "It was unlike being drunk - I know it was more."

According to Jane Fischer, director of SBI Health Education, date rape drugs like Rohypnol and gamma Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) are used to manipulate victims, commonly put into effect by slipping them into a drink.

Rohypnol, part of the Xanax family, and GHB, a combination of cleaning chemicals, are both increasingly used as recreational drugs. GHB, originally used to stimulate muscle growth, is often combined with other illegal drugs to induce lethargy and often, to coupled with amnesia.

"Both drugs have serious sedating effects... and affect mobility," Fischer said. "Neither drug is really used for anything other than as a date rape drug in the U.S. They cause drowsiness, confusion and even blacking out," symptoms which make a potential rape victim extremely vulnerable.

According to Fischer, symptoms can range from a drugged person being completely unresponsive, to functioning and carrying on as though he or she is merely overly drunk.

For our female source, being drugged caused her to drift in and out of consciousness, losing control of some of her senses.

"I remember laying there, and I couldn't see anyone or move, I could just hear [others around me]," the student said. "It was like I lost control over all of my senses, except for my sense of hearing."

Date rape drugs, like the ones this female student believes were used on her, are more prevalent among the college community than they are in the general population, according to University Police Department Chief Gerald Schoenle.

These drugs are odorless and nearly tasteless, and effects can be felt within five to 20 minutes after being put into a drink, with symptoms lasting up to four hours.

"The thing about these two drugs is that even though they're most often put into drinks, . . . the interaction of these drugs with alcohol is also very dangerous - similar to mixing prescription medicines with alcohol," Fischer said. "These drugs increase in risk when they're taken with alcohol."

Though, in Schoenle's recollection, date rape drug use isn't as prevalent at UB and the Buffalo area as in other parts of the country, students shouldn't assume it doesn't happen here.

"We have two to three incidents reported each year, mostly off campus," Schoenle said. "I'm looking at a case now... where a young lady who was at one of the local establishments in the [University] Heights thinks she might have been given a date rape drug. She was so highly intoxicated, she wasn't sure. To know, it's something you have to be tested for as soon as possible."

According to Schoenle, date rape drugs are a part of the major drug trade, and may enter the Buffalo area from Ohio and New York City. Like all illegal drugs, date rape-oriented substances are often transported over the country's borders.

The female student source said that she knows she was drugged, though she never reported the incident to the police or received medical treatment after the fact.

"To this day, I still don't know exactly what happened," she said. "I know my friend found me in a room, and I had my shirt off with a guy, but we don't think more happened than that. I never reported it."

The amnesia that commonly accompanies date rape drug use can also add to a victim's trauma, whether or not a sexually assault has occured.

"There's always issues in terms of knowing or not knowing what happened, which creates an additional set of problems, emotional and physical, because . . . you can't say for sure if anything happened, if there was penetration, or if there was complete [ejaculation], and what kind of acts were performed," Fischer said. "The victim has to assume they're at risk for everything, from STIs to unwanted pregnancy. That's why we really want men and women who think they have been drugged to seek attention, because they can't say for certain."

Drug-related amnesia can compound the issues surrounding a drugging and possible sexual assault, including collecting evidence and the prosecution of a perpetrator, she said. Problems with closure for the victim, pursuing legal action and the like are compounded by drug-related assault. Fischer also said that low statistics concerning the use of date rape drugs might be attributed to how quickly the chemicals leave the body, and low incidents of reporting.

"These drugs are very fast acting. If you don't seek medical attention, sometimes within 24 hours, it can be released from the body through urine, and the signs of the drug in your body will not be there," Fischer said. "So even if a person who has been drugged seeks medical attention but does it too late, the signs of the drug in your body might not be there, and then a report of a drugging won't be taken."

According to Schoenle, though Rohypnol and GHB are commonly used as date rape drugs, he stressed that the most common date rape drug is alcohol. Once a person becomes too intoxicated to consent to sex, date rape can occur.

"In one case, a male student had put pure alcohol, which is illegal in most states, in Jell-O shots and was giving it to young ladies, but he and his friends wouldn't drink it themselves," Schoenle said. "They would get young ladies extremely intoxicated, and would sexually assault them."

Fischer said those who have been drugged often do not report the incident or seek medical assistant, especially among college-aged victims.

"College students tend to have greater risk factors," she said, citing the greater prevalence of college students frequenting bars and parties where binge drinking is much more common. "There's also the notion of younger women not being as comfortable seeking assistance. In some cases, the fear of getting in trouble for things like underage drinking outweighs the fear of dying."

Younger victims, in particular, might not always recognize the difference between being drugged and drunk. Date rape drugs have serious physical consequences for both victims who are actually date raped, as well as those who have been drugged but not assaulted.

Physical effects can include vomiting, liver failure, respiratory problems, tremors and seizures, among other side effects.

"In some cases, [victims] feel nauseous and sick to their stomach, and they vomit. Symptoms come along pretty fast - like they're highly intoxicated very quickly," Schoenle said.

The female source said that though she experienced sickness and the like, the biggest detriment was the emotional repercussions that followed the incident.

"My mom found out what happened, and thought I was drinking and partying all the time," she said. "She lost trust in me. That hurt the most."

The source also commented on being fearful of other social events for a long time after the event.

"I was afraid to go to parties; I didn't drink a lot for a long time," she said. "It wasn't until I made friends I trusted that I drank again, because I knew that if that situation were to occur again, I would have friends who would be there for me and not let anything happen."

For people who are sexually assaulted, the emotional impact tends to be the same whether a victim has been drugged or not, according to Fischer.

"There's always going to be a scarring factor, though people tend to deal with the after effects differently," she said. "For someone who has been incapacitated and has no memory of that time period, then there is an added layer of trauma, in terms of being able to recognize the assailant or knowing exactly what happened."

Fischer noted that both men and women could be victimized by date rape drug use, whether or not sexual assault occurs.

"I personally know a man who was drugged when he was at a bar," Fischer said. "He was with some female friends and there was a group of guys who were coming on to these female friends. They didn't like him being seemingly in the way and being involved, and he ended up being drugged. He had about a beer and a half, and ended up passing out in the cab."

Above all, our female source advocates knowing the people you're drinking with, and telling someone as soon as you feel sick.

"It wasn't my fault, but I'm lucky something didn't happen to me," she said. "The reason something worse didn't happen was because I was with friends, but it still scares me."