Morning:
8°c
A rioter who terrorised diners with an axe at McDonald's has been jailed for five years and three months - one of the toughest sentences for last summer's disturbances
More...
Drug rape myth exposed as study reveals binge drinking is to blame
Last updated at 01:07am on 17.02.07
Doctors tested 75 women who claimed their drinks had been spiked by date rape drugs, not one tested positive
Women who claim to be victims of 'date-rape' drugs such as Rohypnol have in fact been rendered helpless by binge-drinking, says a study by doctors.
They found no evidence that any woman seeking help from emergency doctors because their drinks were allegedly spiked had actually been given these drugs.
Around one in five tested positive for recreational drugs while two-thirds had been drinking heavily.
The findings further erode the theory that there is widespread use of Rohypnol and GHB, another drug said to be favoured by predatory rapists.
Last month a personal safety campaigner claimed that Rohypnol had never been used to assist a sexual assault in the UK. Doctors carrying out the latest study at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital said it was far more likely women were claiming their drinks had been spiked as an "excuse" for binge-drinking.
The 12-month study was based on 75 patients - mostly women - treated in casualty who told doctors their drinks had been tampered with in pubs or clubs.
But tests for drugs such as Rohypnol, GHB and ketamine found nothing, says the study published in the Emergency Medicine Journal.
It showed 65 per cent of women had 160mg of alcohol in their blood - twice the 80mg drink/drive limit - and a quarter were three times over the limit. Although all the patients denied taking drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine, one fifth tested positive.
Researcher Dr Hywel Hughes, an associate specialist in A&E said: "This study confirmed our suspicion that most of the patients with suspected drink-spiking would test negative for drugs. No ketamine, GHB or Rohypnol was found in the samples which suggest they are not commonly used to spike drinks.
"There has been a lot of media coverage in recent years, mainly focusing on just a few substances including Rohypnol and GHB, which has led to the perception that drinkspiking is a widespread practice. But most patients allegedly having a spiked drink tested negative for drugs misuse.
"Claiming their drink has been spiked may be used as an excuse by patients who have become incapacitated after the voluntary consumption of excess alcohol."
Dr Hughes said some women might have felt ashamed at ending up in casualty. "There seems to be greater awareness about the dangers of binge-drinking, which is where the emphasis should stay," he added.
Last month Julie Bentley, chief executive of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said many women fall victim to sexual assaults after being plied with alcohol. Commenting on claims that Rohypnol had played a part in sex attacks, she said: "As far as I am aware, there has never been a case of Rohypnol in this country found."
In the light of the latest research, Dr Peter Saul, a GP in Wrexham, said: "There had always been a suspicion that people would say that their drinks had been spiked when perhaps they had misjudged how much alcohol they were taking.
"If you go home and your parents are there, and you are vomiting on the path, and you come in in a terrible state, you get sympathy if you say, 'My drink was spiked'.
"You don't get sympathy if you say, 'We spent too long in the bar'."
He added: "The message has to be: be careful - not just about having your drink spiked - but how much alcohol you have."
Reader views (6)
Poisons are notoriously the domain of women with no morals.
Take the death to Gérard Ponthieux a 50 year old man found dead with multiple wounds to his body and no defensive wounds who was found to have GHB in his blood at 8 micrograms per millilitre.
Although in bed with his wife at the time, she has been found guilty of his murder although she had stolen 300 000 francs from him and had just been found to have taken money again from his business (bar);
One reason for the innocence is a claim that the paralysing drug occurs naturally in dead bodies.
This rather goes against claims here and everywhere else that they have not been found in people.
What is going on with experts in medico-legal cases? This case involved 23 such experts who in the end proved nothing except how to extract huge sums of money from the state to make the theft of Jaccqueline look like stealing from the charity box on the bar.
- John Fryer, Paris France, 22/11/2010 09:28
Report abuse
Alcohol is the issue not the rape drug. Many people are blaming drugs instead of alcohol. Women seem to be using the word rape as an excuse to cover up there one night silly drunken antics. If I got drunk and assaulted someone I could hardly blame drink but women are blaming it saying they did not consent. We are living in VERY dangerous time for men where the single uncorroborated word of a women and the use of sympathy and rape myth propaganda is sending innocent men to jail as gullible juries might be taken in by her lies. 40-60 percent of allegation per year is proven to be false followed by a large grey area where women don’t admit falsehood and something may have actually happened. The law is very female bias here and people should always exercise extreme caution in listen to the single uncorroborated word of a rape complainer. The internet is awash of research about rape and most point to falsehood so people may need start to educate themselves as to the reality instead of the politicians rhetoric who wants your vote. Always safer to speak of the victim than dare say many are false in this politically correct society.
- Remrett, Lowestoft, 01/03/2010 02:27
Report abuse
Rape is a non-consentual relationship in where one party has been forced into the act out of the other's agreement.
But can the act of "out of other party's agreement be proved", In today's caption on Lady Stern's views, it is not the fault of the Poilce who investigates but the manner the law states it should be dealt with. If rape is non-consentual what about the children kiddnapped, taken away out of their will, forced into sexual difilement and killed. Yet the sentence is so minimal that has made the groups to reinforce into committing more chaotic related offences.
One fact that is lack is that whether or not alcohol is involved, when a man and a woman tend to sit alone uninterrupted, neither of them would know what reeled through another's mind until they ended up into the act after they would have settled down to drown their emotions in alcohol.
The end result of alcohol cosumption is the rape or sexual immorality however neither man or woman is guilty and if we are tofind the guilty party they are both guilty bearing in mind if the woman had left the scene immediately she began to sense that the act is going a wrong dimenssion, she need to leave by her staying there and remaining at the scene she's consenting to it.
- Olu Oshodi, United Kingdom, 14/12/2009 19:07
Report abuse
Sisters! Unite against this male chauvinist-dominated "medical" opinion. Realise it for what it is! Oppressive! Rohypnol IS used to turn women literally into sex objects by dishonest men. How can everyone have been wrong all along, only to be "corrected" by some MAN in a suit!???!!!?
- Millie Tant, Lowestoft, 12/12/2009 18:41
Report abuse
Too many woman use rape as an excuse for getting drunk and having a one night stand. You get sympathy from being raped ... but not from drinking too much.
I feel sorry for guys who get accused of 'rape' when the female voluntarily got totally drunk, then jumped into bed with a guy who was more than willing.
- Liz, NZ, 20/06/2007 04:29
Report abuse
Rape is non-consenual sex. End of story. One excuse is as good as another - as in no excuse! Because "date rape" drugs aren't used for everyone who is raped doesn't mean they aren't used in some cases though. It isn't a case of one or the other.
There are always going to be people on the make (those out for quick compensation cash, or far more likely, a need to exact either deserved, or otherwise, vengeance), but it is also a "get out of gaol free card" for those needing an excuse for their own indulgence in worldly pursuits.
My point? Don't write off date rape drugs as a myth. But then again, don't simply accept the accusations "as-is" either. Judge each case according to its merits.
- Rogan M., DFW TX, USA, 17/02/2007 09:20
Report abuse
