Prevalence of Drugs Used in Cases of Alleged Sexual Assault

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of reports in the U.S. of the use of drugs, often in conjunction with alcohol, to commit sexual assault. A study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of drug use in sexual assault cases in which substances are suspected of being involved. Law enforcement agencies, emergency rooms, and rape crisis centers across the U.S. were offered the opportunity to submit urine samples collected from victims of alleged sexual assault, where drug use was suspected, for analysis of alcohol and drugs which may be associated with sexual assault. Each sample was tested by immunoassay for amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine metabolite (benzoylecgonine), cannabinoids, methaqualone, opiates, phencyclidine and propoxyphene. The positive screen results were confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). In addition, each sample was tested for flunitrazepam metabolites and gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) by GC-MS and for ethanol by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). Over a 26-month period, 1179 samples were collected and analyzed from 49 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The states sending the most samples were California (183), Texas (119), Florida (61), Pennsylvania (61), New York (61), Minnesota (50), Illinois (47), Indiana (44), Michigan (40), Maryland (37), Virginia (32), and Massachusetts (31). Four-hundred sixty eight of the samples were found negative for all the substances tested; 451 were positive for ethanol, 218 for cannabinoids, 97 for benzoylecgonine, 97 for benzodiazepines, 51 for amphetamines, 48 for GHB, 25 for opiates, 17 for propoxyphene, and 12 for barbiturates. There were no samples identified as positive for phencyclidine or methaqualone. In addition, 35% of the drug-positive samples contained multiple drugs. This study indicates that, with respect to alleged sexual assault cases, the prevalence of ethanol is very high, followed by cannabinoids, cocaine, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, and GHB. Although only a couple of substances have been implicated with sexual assault, this study has shown that almost 20 different substances have been associated with this crime. This study also raises the concern of illicit and licit drug use in sexual assault cases and suggests the need to test for a range of drugs in these cases. It also highlights the need to test for GHB, which is not generally tested for in a normal toxicology screen.

Electrochemical behaviour of gamma hydroxybutyric acid at a platinum electrode in acidic medium

“…Used in low concentration (30-100 mg/L) this drug produces euphoria and lack of inhibitions [5] but if the concentration exceeds 500 mg/L mg amnesia, drowsiness, visual impairment and unconsciousness are obtained instead [6] and even death in the most critical cases (over 500mg/L).…”

The NPS Phenomenon and the Deep Web: Internet Snapshots of the Darknet and Potentials of Data Mining

“…Total Number of Items (Grams Engine) and Power Scoring of e-vendors from the Middle East Individual correlations were also carried out, the Middle East and Arabic countries contribution to the e-trade on darknet was far less than that of the European Union. It has also been known that GHB substance is used to sedate victims during sexual assault incidents and rape; a linear regression (Table 1) was implemented and it was found that a positive linear relationship (R 2 score= 0.0389) exists between the number of GHB hits on Grams engine and the incidence of sexual assaults in these locations (Elsohly & Salamone, 1999;Mehling & Johansen, 2016;Schwartz et al, 2000;Varela et al, 2004). Finally, a correlation was done in relation to the total number of hits (Grams) for nine countries (regions) known of high NPS e-prevalence; Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.…”

Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault and That the Problems in Turkey

“…Kenevir yaygınlığı %18,2 ile %25,6 arasında, kokain yaygınlığı ise %7,7 ile %10,8 arasında bulunmuştur [51]. Cinsel saldırı kurbanlarında GHB yaygınlığı Amerika da yapılan 4 çalışmaya göre cinsel saldırı vakalarında %3 ile %4,4 arasında belirlenmiştir [52][53][54][55]. Aynı yıllarda Birleşik Krallıkta çok daha düşük bir oran (% 0,2) bulunmuştur [56].…”