How to protect yourself
- Don’t accept drinks from other people; watch them being made.
- Keep your drink by your side, even when going to the bathroom. Ask your friends to watch your drink if you step away from it.
- Don’t share drinks with people you don’t trust.
- Discard your drink if it looks or tastes strange. GHB sometimes tastes salty; other drugs may not dissolve or cause a drink to bubble.
- As always, it’s a good idea to have a non-drinking friend with you to act as an extra set of eyes and ears.
- If you suspect something is amiss, go with your gut. Call a friend, make an excuse to leave the date/situation, discard your drink.
- Remember that the majority of time, an assailant is an acquaintance or someone you know, not a stranger.
- If you think you’ve been drugged, it’s important go to the police or a hospital right away. They’ll want to test your urine to check for the drugs.
Drugging someone’s drink is a pretty serious crime, as it should be. According to the Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996, there are “criminal penalties of up to twenty years imprisonment for any person who distributes a controlled substance, such as Rohypnol, to a person with the intent to commit a crime of violence, including rape.” Keeping on the lookout for yourself and your friends, whether drunk or otherwise intoxicated, is the best way to prevent the bar scene from becoming a bad one.
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