Action Planned On ‘Date Rape’ Drug
An illegal sedative nicknamed the “date rape” drug should be put in the same category as heroin, cocaine and LSD in the next three months, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Thursday.
The agency recommended that Rohypnol, connected to more than 2,400 criminal investigations nationwide, be declared a Schedule 1 drug, DEA spokesman Jim McGivney said.
The Health and Human Services Department will study the medical effects of the drug, and within the next few months could decide with the DEA to reclassify it.
“We have seen an increase in abuse potential and actual abuse,” McGivney said. “Even if you don’t discuss the sexual allegations, the drug can be very problematic.”
Rohypnol, which has been banned in the United States since March, is used legally in 64 countries prior to surgery and to treat insomnia. The drug, which was first marketed as a sleeping pill in 1975, is 10 times more powerful than Valium.
Now, the sedative is classified as a Schedule 4 drug, along with Valium. Under this classification, prosecuting people for possession or smuggling of Rohypnol is nearly impossible. The penalties are so light that a person would have to carry more than 4 pounds of pills, McGivney said.
The drug - a small, white tablet known as “roofie” that has no taste or odor when dissolved in a drink - sells illegally for $1 to $5 per pill.
In “roofie rape,” victims who are slipped the drug become dizzy and disoriented and have trouble moving their arms and legs. Ultimately, they pass out and have little or no memory of what happens next.
xxxx What crackdown means Declaring Rohypnol a Schedule 1 drug would provide a minimum 10-year prison term for simple smuggling offenses and allow prosecutors to seek the same sentences that apply to sales and possession of heroin and cocaine.