---
title: "I think this meme is dangerous.  While the incident described may…"
date: 2016-05-29
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a post.
---

# I think this meme is dangerous.  While the incident described may…

*May 29, 2016 · Facebook*

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I think this meme is dangerous. While the incident described may have happened, I think it exaggerates the risk of Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA) with drugs like GHB or Rohypnol (\'roofies\'). Most of the research into DFSA suggests, with the exception of voluntarily consumed alcohol, it\'s exceedingly rare.\
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For example, in one study (1), out of 1014 cases of claimed DFSA, lab tests found sedatives or disinhibiting drugs in only 21 cases. That\'s about 2%.\
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According to this study (2), out of 101 patients who presented at a hospital with suspected drug spiking, lab tests found no evidence of any sedative consumption in any of the patients. Yet, 35% continued to believe their drinks had been spiked, even after learning of the test results.\
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Why does it matter? Because when people get worked up into moral panics about an alleged epidemic of drug-spiking, bad laws get passed. (3) GHB, for example, used to be available other-the-counter at GNC stores. Now it\'s a Schedule I drug, which means that you\'re at risk of robbery, beating, kidnapping, and death at the hands of police if you\'re found with it.\
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As a result, I suspect far more people have been harmed by efforts to interdict GHB and other so-called \"date rape\" drugs, than were ever harmed by DFSA. Not to mention all the people who were harmed by GHB being pulled from the market (GHB is a decent short-term sleep aid and anti-anxiolytic)\
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(1) [http://www.jflmjournal.org/article/S1353-1131(05)00052-0/abstract](http://www.jflmjournal.org/article/S1353-1131(05)00052-0/abstract){target="_blank"}\
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(2) [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1742-6723.2009.01185.x/abstract;jsessionid=8D1A20705EF755BCD79A63D58293A7D9.f01t01](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1742-6723.2009.01185.x/abstract;jsessionid=8D1A20705EF755BCD79A63D58293A7D9.f01t01){target="_blank"}\
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(3) [http://disinfo.com/2013/01/ghb-prohibition-codification-of-moral-mass-hysteria/](http://disinfo.com/2013/01/ghb-prohibition-codification-of-moral-mass-hysteria/){target="_blank"}
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