Seanad debates
Wednesday, 11 December 2002
Alcohol Consumption by Young People: Statements.
There was much talk from the mid-1990s about drug-assisted assaults and it was suggested that drugs such as Rohypnol, or benzodiazepine, were very important in the fact that so many young women could not even remember if they had been raped and their drinks had been spiked. When we discussed the "Prime Time" report, for which we should be most grateful, I was rather concerned that some Senators seemed to think that the spiking of drinks was common. These drugs are odourless and tasteless. In ten cases each year the sexual assault treatment unit sent specimens to check if rohypnol which lasts in the system for 72 hours was present in people's blood or urine. There was no rohypnol present, just lethal levels of alcohol. It is extremely important to recognise that alcohol is an important factor in sexual assaults.
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