A Review on Date Rape Drugs (Ketamine & GHB)

Sexual crimes can be defined as acts in which one intentionally touches sexually or forces another person to engage in sexual activities without his/her consent. Drug facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is a sexual crime in which casualty is under the influence of drug. DFSA crimes crimes such as assault, harassment, rape, etc. are increasing globally. Date rape drugs are the drugs that are used in DFSA cases and are Central Nervous System depressants as they incapacitate the victim causing sedation and amnesia. These drugs are colorless, tasteless and odorless making them difficult to detect by the victim. Date rape drugs are metabolized very rapidly which make them difficult to detect in routine drug screening. Commonly used date rape drugs are Ketamine, GHB (Gamma- Hydroxybutyric acid), Rohypnol, Chloral hydrate, among others. These drugs can be extracted from both biological and non- biological samples by using different techniques such as liquid-liquid extraction or solid phase extraction. Inside the current paper, two of the premier regularly mauled date attack medications, GHB and Ketamine are overviewed.