Epidemic or False Alarm?

Drug legalization advocates accuse the media of inaccurately depicting the dangers of certain drugs. They cite date rape drugs as examples. In most cases in which victims report being drugged, then sexually assaulted by companions, alcohol is the substance involved. Two controlled depressants, Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) and GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid), have also been cited. Jacob Sullum, in his book Saying Yes, writes, “It's not clear exactly how often rapists use GHB or Rohypnol, but such cases are surely much rarer than the hysterical reaction from the press and Congress … would lead one to believe.”

Sullum suggests that since Rohypnol and GHB are recognized as popular club drugs, some people now suspect all club drugs—including the hallucinogen MDMA—of being rapists' devices.