A new California law will force bars and clubs to provide drug-testing machines to safeguard customers from beverages laced with “date rape drugs.”
The measure, Assembly Bill 1013, went into effect on Monday.
It will require 2,400 establishments with Type 48 licenses from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which allows the sale of beer, wine, and distilled spirits, to provide the testing devices for free or at a price “not to exceed a reasonable amount based on the wholesale cost,” according to a department release.
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It will also force venues to display placards with the warning “Don’t get roofied!” Drink spiking drug test kits are accessible here. For further information, speak with a member of staff.
The watering holes and clubs will be responsible for delivering the kits, which will include test strips, stickers, straws, and other gadgets that “can detect the presence of controlled substances in drinks,” such as flunitrazepam, ketamine, and gamma hydroxybutyric acid.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, all are “date rape drugs” that predators may put in a person’s drink, and their effects are exacerbated by alcohol.
Rohypnol, the brand name for flunitrazepam, has “sedative-hypnotic, anti-anxiety, and muscle relaxant effects,” according to the DEA. The Food and Drug Administration has not licensed it for medical use in the United States; however, it is used to treat insomnia in other countries. It may dissolve in fluids and is used “to physically and psychologically incapacitate victims targeted for sexual assault,” according to the DEA.
Ketamine, a general anesthetic that “causes individuals to feel detached from their bodies and surroundings,” is used as a date rape medication to make victims unable to move or fight back, according to a DEA report. It can also create amnesia, which means that victims do not recall what happened.
The generic medication sodium oxybate is also known as gamma-hydroxybutyric acid or GHB. While it is sold under the brand name Xyrem and licensed by the FDA as a prescription medicine to relieve daytime tiredness, the DEA claims it has been abused for euphoric and relaxing effects.
GHB abuse grew popular among young people at dance clubs and raves in the 1990s, and it also “gained notoriety as a date rape drug,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. GHB use can cause drowsiness, confusion, and memory impairment, as well as visual hallucinations and violent behavior. GHB overdoses can cause unconsciousness, convulsions, decreased heartbeat, coma, and death.
Failure to comply with the new regulation may result in “administrative actions impacting their licenses,” according to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Department.
Source: NBC