How many times have you woken up with a terrible hangover and thought, "What happened last night?" and then groaned when the bits and pieces came jogging back to your memory? Luckily you were with friends or loved ones and if not, luckily you met someone safe. But is it really worth it to hold your life in a balance based on luck?
Jennifer (name changed) came to Goa to bring in the New Year. Being a foreigner, she hung out with locals and other tourists at rave parties. One night she thought she was given a common club drug - ecstasy - only to wake up the next morning with body ache and unable to recall the night before. On taking a medical test, she discovered she had been gang raped.

The Hunt
The use of 'predator' or 'date rape' drugs is a growing phenomenon in India. These drugs render the victim physically helpless, unable to refuse sex, create disorientation in time and space and even induce a memory lapse. Being colourless and odourless, spiking a drink is simple and its potency is double that of many other drugs. The three types are GHB (gamma hydroxybutyric acid), used for narcolepsy in the US, Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), used by insomniacs and during anesthesia, and Ketamine (ketamine hydrochloride), used by veterinarians. All traces of these drugs leave the body within 72 hours of ingestion. While the ingestion of GHB causes behavioural changes like increased aggression, impaired judgment and severe neurological effects, Rohypnol leads to loss of muscle control, drunkenness and confusion. Ketamine produces a dissociative state characterised by profound analgesia (super relaxed state of muscles) and amnesia.

The Anjuna-Vagator coastal belt in December and January is notorious for midnight rave parties, which continue till the wee hours of the morning. Since alcohol is not served here, there is no age restriction. This dance culture began in American nightclubs and spread to the beach parties of Ibiza and Goa in the 90s. Such all-night raves, attended by thousands of young people were characterised by clandestine venues, hypnotic music and drugs.

Andrew Luster, the 39-year-old heir to Max Factor, hit the headlines when he was charged with raping several women whose drinks he had spiked with GHB. The big question was why a multi-millionaire would resort to such deplorable methods to seduce a woman? The notion that a decent, educated person cannot be a rapist is continuously challenged in date rape cases. The assailant need not be a stranger who assaults the victim in a dark alley, it can easily be someone you have recently met or even a friend. In a recent case, a college student was offered a cigarette by a group of boys she knew, and on smoking it, became unconscious. She was then gang raped not by strangers, but friends.
The scars of any form of rape are long-lasting. The process of recovery is often less physical and more psychological. Being raped on a date by someone you know is a traumatic experience, leaving most victims feeling partially responsible. They feel they must have encouraged the person or dressed in a seductive manner and many cases are left unreported out of fear of social stigma. There should not be any shame in someone seducing you without your consent; there should be a strong will to seek justice. Being less adventurous on a night out minimises the chances of date rape and most importantly, there is no point thinking this will never happen to you - every victim of date rape has thought that before.

The Tools - Club Drugs
Designer, synthetic or club drugs are considered recreational and usually taken at parties or nightclubs. Some of them are engineered in such a way so as to allow the consumer to pop a pill on a Friday evening, with the effects lasting till Sunday evening.

Name: LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), acid
Type: Hallucinogenic
Form: Paper tablet, capsule, and occasionally liquid
Short-term effect: Potent, unpredictable mood-changing chemical. Users have dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, sleeplessness and tremors. In large doses, it produces delusions and visual hallucinations.
Long-term effect: Flashbacks or long-lasting psychoses.
Name: Methamphetamine, Desoxyn, speed, crystal, or crank
Type: Synthetic stimulant produced in 'backyard' laboratories
Form: Powder in pill or crystal form that is snorted, injected or dissolved in liquid.
Short-term effect: The drug increases heart rate and blood pressure making users alert, confident, and energetic and induces a loss of appetite and sleep.
Long-term effect: It can cause paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, violent or erratic behaviour and self-absorption. It can cause intense psychological dependence.

Name: Ecstasy or MDMA (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)
Form: Pill or powder
Short-term effect: A four-to-six-hour mildly euphoric experience. Users experience a common acceptance for and by others, diminished fear, and an increased ability to communicate. High body temperature is common and can result in heatstroke and in some cases, death.
Name: Cocaine, Coke, Blow, Charlie or Snow
Type: Stimulates the central nervous system.
Form: Powder
Short-term effect: Users feel self-confident and alert. Cocaine highs last between a few minutes and a few hours. Risks associated with it range from overdose to addiction.
Long-term effect: Highly addictive and an overdose may lead to seizures.

Name: Crystal Meth, glass or ice
Type: Amphetamine
Form: Powder
Short-term Effect: Users experience huge rushes of energy and euphoria. The highs last longer than coke highs - several hours at a time.
Long-term Effect: Same as cocaine

While both GHB (liquid E) and Ketamine are used as club drugs, its difference from being date rape drugs is as simple as that between use and abuse. At low doses, GHB causes relaxation and slight euphoria, while at a higher dose it causes extreme fatigue and unconsciousness. When mixed with alcohol, these drugs can be fatal.


Under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, rape is forced sexual intercourse with an adult woman without her consent or when consent is obtained by fear. Date rape is rape where the victim knows the rapist, either closely or casually. The assault in this case is usually drug-facilitated. Goa police records reveal that in 14 of the 17 rape cases reported till July 2004, the victims knew the rapist.


Be Safe, Not Sorry
• Don't accept drinks from strangers
• Don't share your drink with anyone
• Refrain from drinking from a punch bowl
• Don't drink anything that tastes or smells unusual
• Avoid drinking at raves or large parties where you don't know many people. Just enjoy the music.


What To Do If Your Drink Is Spiked
• If your drink has suddenly been topped up, moved or looks different, don't drink it
• If you feel unwell, extremely drunk, or sleepy after only one or two drinks, get help from a trusted friend, not a stranger, or go straight to the pub owner or security staff.


Time Magazine 2002 Invention of the Year award was given to Francisco Guerra for creating a cardboard drink coaster that can identify GHB and Ketamine. All you have to do is place a drop of liquid on the coaster and rub it in with your finger. If the spot turns blue, it has been spiked. The coasters are available with the company (Drink Safe Technologies) and though there aren't distribution outlets here, it can be ordered online.