Proliferation of Date Rape Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proliferation of Date Rape Drugs - Essay Example Sex must be consensual by two rational beings, yet society has long since muddied the reality of this point. As a result, it is important to now understand the proliferation of date rape drugs that are rampant in society. In so doing, we need to better comprehend how the drugs are most often delivered into the body, understand the current trends in rape being committed in such a manner. and work to eliminate this threat from much of larger of society. That is the focus of this paper. Drug Delivery Methods To comprehend what types of delivery methods are employed for date rape drugs, one must first understand the nature of the concept in the first place. The more technical term for date rape is drug facilitated sexual assault. Such assaults take place primarily because of the ingestion of one of many substances into the body that alters an individuals ability to make wise and rational choices, particularly when it comes to sexual activity. There are numerous ways that a predator might accomplish this in his or victim. Perhaps the most common delivery method is through the use of alcohol. Alcohol is both legal and readily available. As such, it presents itself as the perfect way to get a victim to become uninhibited and become an easy target of sexual abuse. For these reasons, and others, alcohol is believed to be the most common form of date rape ‘drug’ used in such forced sexual encounters. The typical sequence of events for such an occurrence would be the encouraging of a women to continue drinking far past what would be considered safe limits. Over time, the victim will tend to lose consciousness, and then the rape will be much easier to perpetuate. In nearly all legal jurisdictions, sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious is considered to be rape. The use of various forms of tranquillizers are are also becoming an increasingly common delivery vehicle. Such drugs typically come in the form of Valium, Librium, Xanax, or Ativan. A predat or using this particular delivery mechanism will typically slip the drug into the victim’s drink without them being aware. The effects can of taking the drug will be noticed within 15 to 20 minutes. Within two hours, the victim will become very relaxed and sleepy, and their reaction times will be severely diminished (Weir, 2001). As such, their ability to make sound decisions is severely hampered, causing them to submit to sexual actions that they would never agree to when not under the effects of a date rape drug. Current Trends Many predators committing date rape today have gotten so advanced at the practice that the victims often do not realise what has happened to them until it is far too late to prove any allegations. Recent studies have indicated that more than 38% of individuals who believe they have been victims of date rape test positive for excessive alcohol in their system, even hours after the attack. A full 8% test positive for some form of drug being administere d into their blood stream, while 40% actually have no noticeable date rape drug in their system at all (Peatfield and Villalon, 2013). It is disturbing to note that many people who believe that their drinks have been spiked test negative for any date rape drugs. This indicates that the current trend in this area is towards a more crafty predator that can quickly overpower the victim, cause them