Drug-facilitated sexual assault and other crimes: A systematic review by countries

The direct immersion solid phase microextraction coupled with the LC–MS method for ex vivo determination of selected date-rape drugs in the human blood samples

“…Blood samples with analytes were prepared one day before analysis. The appropriate volumes of mixes of analytes and internal standards in methanol were pipetted into 1.5 cm 3 Eppendorf vials. The contents of the vials were then evaporated with the use of a vacuum concentrator at a temperature of 45 °C.…”

“…Benzodiazepines exhibit anxiolytic, sedative, and amnestic effects, which can lead to the unconsciousness of the rape victim. Due to the short half lives of these drugs, the possibility of rapid detection and quantification in biological samples such as blood and urine is an important matter [3]. The properties of selected date-rape drugs investigated in this work are presented in Table 1.…”

Dualplex lateral flow assay for simultaneous scopolamine and “cannibal drug” detection based on receptor-gated mesoporous nanoparticles

“…Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is a term used to define sexual assault without consent of the victim that is incapaci-tated and/or unable to provide approval to the sexual act as a result of administration of a psychoactive substance or drug cocktails usually without the permission of the victim. 1,2 In recent years, this phenomenon has acquired greater relevance worldwide and social impact fuelled by the significant increase in cases that already account for 20.9% of sexually assaulted victims. 3 The psychoactive substance most commonly associated with DFSA is alcohol, yet the use of recreational drugs is rising as the drug market is expanding, providing faster and cheaper ways to disable the victim.…”

“…Owing to the increasing use of SCP in rape assaults 11 as well as the broad diversification of new substances available on the underground market, an acute need has arisen to develop innovative and efficient analytical methods for the identification of DFSA substances. For SCP, a wide variety of techniques have been used for its reliable identification in different adulterated samples, such as gas chromatography, 12,13 high-performance liquid chromatography 14,15 and capillary zone electrophoresis.…”

Comparison of Two Immunoassay Screening Methods and a LC-MS/MS in Detecting Traditional and Designer Benzodiazepines in Urine

“…Benzodiazepine detection in urine is a common routine test in clinical and forensic laboratories. They are monitored in cases of suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], in workplace contexts [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], in suspected impaired drivers [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], and in cases of suspected intoxication [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Hence, the laboratories need a sensitive immunoassay for use as a screening procedure.…”