It is odorless and colorless and it delivers a swift knockout punch and then vanishes with out a trace. Date-rape drug GHB is the tool for the perfect crime, and it is on the rise.
Andrew Luster, great-grandson of the cosmetics mogul Max Factor and heir to part of his estimated $ 480 million dollar fortune is soon to be on trial. For what you ask?
Well, focus on a video camera, rock music pounding in the back ground-a camera recording all the action as Luster sexually assaults a girl who is now snoring.
The camera catches him saying, This is what I like, he says, a beautiful strawberry blond, passed out, waiting for me to do with her what I will. Police say they found ( they were investigating the case) the video at Lusters house in the exclusive beach town of , near .
To see this home video you are going have to be sitting on a Jury. This trial is going on now. He is accused of using the drug GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) to dope and rape three women ages 18 to 23; prosecutors say he taped two of the alleged assaults. The charges; 87 criminal counts including rape, poisoning and sexual battery. Luster denies the charges.
The case is so lurid it is attracting media attention from all over. An we will have to see what the outcome is. This may be a way to open doors for discussion on how to deal with cases like these. Because they are hard to prove. Why .. well read on.
This is one case in how many though? There are so many cases that are hard to prove due to how GHB interacts in the body. GHB can be nearly impossible to detect and thus rape is difficult to prove. We know about the date-rape drug (I hate that term date... it implies an intimate encounter or some relationship... it is plain and simple rape, no kindness or consensual liaison it far from it. There is no sugar coating of the situation.) Rohypnol. Rohypnol can be detected easier because it stays in the system longer.
The drug known as Easy Lay looks like bubbly water, but its thicker. Its pure GHB. The other terms for it is: Goop, Liquid Ecstasy, Soap etc. Can be bought quite easily over the internet even though it is an illegal substance. Heres an odorless, colorless liquid.
That with just one squirt from a spray bottle into a margarita glass, GHB can make a woman seem wildly drunk at first, then can knock her cold for more than four hours. An then vanishes within 12 hours; the drug will have passed out of the body. If her urine is captured within that time, it can be tested for GHB; if not the evidence disappears without a trace from both the blood and urine. (Rohypnol remains in the blood and urine for roughly four days.) GHB is cheap about $10 a dose and easy to get even though possession is a felony since 2000.
What is more frightening is there are do it yourself directions found on the Web. GHB which occurs naturally in the body in small amounts was synthesized for use as a surgical anesthetic in the sixties. In the eighties, it became a cult favorite among American Bodybuilders, as a muscle growth stimulant- a use that has now been debunked. GHB came into national prominence in 1997, when a LA. Disk jockey was found guilty of using the drug to rape 10 women.
GHB induces euphoria, making it popular with the club scene. A respiratory depressant, the drug can cause a victim to suffocate on the vomit, collapse, lose bowel function- even die.
Was it or wasnt it GHB ?
GHB has one particularly maddening side effect; it can make victims doubt themselves. A woman who has sipped it can appear like she has had three martinis too many- laughing, flirting, devoid of inhibition. She herself may not be sure what happened- and can have a hard time convincing others that a crime took place.
Detectives sometimes wont consider drug rape when they are talking to a victim, especially when she has been drinking a lot of alcohol. They will assume it was alcohol induced, or that the victim was so drunk that she agreed and had no memory of it. Or the abuser will just get a slap on the hand or charged with assault of an incapacitated person. If rape cannot be proven. So it can impact the case, negatively. Epecially if the Officer is not trained to handle these types of cases.
How to Stay Safe:
- Go out with a friend . Someone who will watch your back. If your friend is going home with some guy and shes real drunk all of a sudden even though she has had only two drinks, alarms should go off.
- Never Leave Your Drink Unattended . If you have to go to the bathroom, either take it with you or order a new one when you come back.
- Be on the look out for these clues : Your drink is salty. Although odorless and colorless, GHB often has a briny taste. Beware if youre drinking wine and a man wants to convert to a sweet or fruity drink. Intense flavors mask GHB.
- You get drunk very quickly. GHB can cause disorientation, confusion and extreme intoxication- including giddiness and loss of inhibition- within minutes.
- You black out. Victims can have two different experiences. One is no memory for a short period of time, a complete blank. Other is an intermittent periods of awakening. Victims may wake up for a moment and know someone is on top of them harming them. They feel paralyzed. One said it was like having sand in her arms.
- You feel extremely sick. GHB produce dizziness, vomiting and breathing problems.
- Get HELP Quickly. If you think GHB has been used on you or someone else, head for the emergency room. Do not let her sleep it off. GHB can be deadly. Call 911, if you cannot rouse the person.
- Save Evidence. If you think you have been drugged or raped, dont shower or dispose of your clothing. If you must urinate, save the urine in a container to be tested by the police or at a hospital. Ask the police or hospital to test it specifically for GHB or other rape drugs such as Rohypnol.
They also have testers sold to detect if any drugs have been slipped into your drink. But still the best safety is to watch your drink and follow some guidelines.
Dont assume it cannot happen to you. Dont think because of the way you dress, acted or were drinking that you deserved something like this. The BLAME GAME is an obstacle GHB victims face, the widely held belief that GHB rape doesnt happen to good girls.
Too often people have the perception that it is the girl who has this happen, is not being good. People dont think it will be the valedictorian who had something slipped into her drink, but the girl who has gone to the bar and is drinking hard and/ or a Party Girl is the assumed type for this to happen. But it is happening to every day people in the most normal of settings. There have been 40 and 50 year olds reporting this having happened. Be sure you are there at the bar when the drink is made and given to you. Especially if someone is buying.
If you see someone (especially a group of males) carrying someone who looks unconscious. Call the police. It is better to err on the side of caution.
If more and more women begin to speak out on these things,making it known. Then we can help educate other women. Get the message out we will not be HELPLESS. Even if it happened.. we will seek justice and demand it to be available.
Push the City to provide training for Officers on how to handle GHB rapes- how to interview victims, counsel them, and collect evidence. It is a hit and miss with Police Departments, depending on the areas they are in some have had training and other have not.
Be safe.
Xandria