Issue 149

Police shatter date rape myths

20th November 2006

A press report published by the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland has suggested that the date rape drug 'Rohypnol' is almost never used in drink spiking cases and 'GHB' is used very rarely.

The 12 month study called Operation Matisse was launched by the police to study trends of drink spiking. It studied 120 different sexual assault allegations that involved reports of drink spiking. In the study 57 (48%) of the victims were found to have illegal drugs in their blood. Of these, Cannabis accounted for 20% and Cocaine accounted for 17% leading to speculation that these are the most common types of date rape drug.

The questionnaire used for Operation Matisse will be recommended for standard practice when investigating drink spiking cases so that British police forces can gain a better understanding of the issue. The results of Operation Matisse were released not long after Friday 10 November, when members of the students union 'spiked' student's drinks with special cocktail sticks to bring attention to the issue. The police were keen to add that they continue to take allegation of drink spiking extremely seriously especially amid accusation of sexual assault.

Pete Swan