Dear Straight Talk: Regarding your column on date rape drugs, I recently went to a huge party where bottles of hard liquor go around and you drink out of the bottles as they pass. I was talking to this guy and I noticed that he turned his back and dropped a pill into the bottle. By this time I was a little drunk, so when the bottle came to me I drank from it. I didn’t think it could be that big of a deal.
Ten minutes later I had a memory black-out that lasted about two hours. My friends told me I was just dancing in the living room, but then the guy who spiked the drink took me outside and had me pinned against the garage. Luckily for me, my guy friend who was driving (and not drinking) came looking for me and grabbed me away from him.
I know you think I should report the guy who spiked the drink and had me pinned but I don’t know who he was and since nothing actually happened it doesn’t seem called for.—Gina, 15
Dear Gina: It sounds like something would have happened if it wasn’t for your friend checking on you. You were very lucky.
Your avoidance of reporting the incident is common. When it comes to sex, shame and fear continue to rule the female psyche. According to a recent study by Glamour Magazine, 91% of female college students who were date-raped didn’t report it. Date rapists are banking on this mindset—and doing a box-office business. Read on.
Dear Straight Talk: I would like to comment on your column regarding spiked drinks. I think date rape drugs have become common because our generation is into pills. Vicodin, Oxycontin, ecstasy are all popular and now there’s GHB, ketamine, rohypnol, which not only make you loose, but you can’t remember anything. It was the next logical step to add pills to drinks because it’s an easy way for guys to get sex. It doesn’t seem like rape because the girl is practically begging for sex, but it is rape all the same because the drugs cause that behavior.
Most girls won’t turn in the offenders because a lot of them are the so-called “dudes” on campus (often due to their access to drugs), and it would really hurt your social life if you were the one who turned them in.—Mercedes, 18
Dear Mercedes: Wouldn’t it hurt your social life even more if you were raped? How can I make my young readers realize that when you let a crime go unreported, you are assisting the criminal? And why aren’t some of you guys doing the reporting? I’m guessing many of you know exactly who’s supplying the drugs and who’s dropping them into drinks. How would you like your girlfriend, your sister, or one of your best friends to be drugged and raped at a party?
If you fear for your reputation, you can tip the police off anonymously.
Dear Straight Talk: Parties these days are scary. I play it safe and always bring my own drinks, including my own water. There are such great bottled drinks now, like hard lemonade. To bring your own bottle, you’re no longer stuck with the gross taste of beer.—Anonymous, 14
Dear Anonymous: “Alcopops” are what these bottled drinks are called because they are geared to the soda pop crowd. I believe you’ve helped explain the growing demand—especially among girls—for these sweet, fruity drinks sold in six packs. I know you’re trying to be safe, but I hope you switch to bottled water because these “girlie drinks” are a gateway into the YFA club (that stands for young, female and alcoholic), and you seem way too smart for that.
——-
