NCJ Number
191324
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 46 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 1143-1151
Date Published
September 2001
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study set out to determine whether flunitrazepam and its major metabolite –aminoflunitrazepam could be detected in hair collected from 10 healthy volunteers who received a single 2 mg dose of Rohypnol using a modification of a previously developed analytical method.
Abstract
In recent years, considerable information about so-called “date-rape drugs” (Rohypnol) and drug-facilitated sexual assault has accumulated and an increase in the number of scientific reports on the subject were observed. An unfortunate frustration surrounding cases of drug-facilitated rape is that victims frequently do not report the crime for days to weeks after the alleged event because of a combination of emotions characteristic of sexual assault victims. However, it is well known that 7-nitro benzodiazepines metabolize to 7-amino compounds tend to incorporate into hair and remain there for much longer periods of time than either in urine or in blood. This study consisted of 10 volunteer subjects admitted to the Psychiatric Unit of the University of Illinois in 1999 receiving a single 2 mg dose of Rohypnol. The concentration of 7-aminoflunitrazepam detected in the hair of each volunteer was greater than the concentration of flunitrazepam detected on each day. It was recommended that this method, simple and relatively inexpensive, be used for the analysis of hair in the case of a drug-facilitated sexual assault. Tables, graphs, and references