Company Tries to Raise Money to Produce Anti-Date Rape Products

A Boston-based company is trying to raise $50,000 to produce cups and straws it says will help reduce date rape, according to ABC News. The company, Drink Savvy, says it has created a material that changes color when it comes in contact with a drink that has been spiked with drugs. The company hopes to sell the products online.

A report issued last year by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found emergency rooms reported 14,270 intentional poisonings in 2009. Nearly two-thirds of ER visits for intentional poisonings were by women.

Intentional poisonings are attempts to harm someone by deliberately getting them to take a potentially harmful substance without their knowledge. Often, intentional poisoning involves a date rape drug that is slipped into a woman’s drink at a bar or nightclub.

Date rape drugs, including the three most common, GHB, ketamine and Rohypnol, are difficult to detect because they are odorless, colorless and tasteless, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

GHB was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002 for use in the treatment of narcolepsy, a sleep disorder. Rohypnol use began gaining popularity in the United States in the early 1990s. It is a benzodiazepine, and is chemically similar to drugs such as Valium or Xanax. It is not approved for medical use in this country, and its importation is banned. Ketamine is an anesthetic that is used in veterinary practice.