NCJ Number
174483
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 32 Issue: 6 Dated: 1997 Pages: 723-731
Date Published
1998
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The benzodiazepine drug Rohypnol is discussed with respect to its contemporary appearance in the United States, its use and misuse, and its effects.
Abstract
Rohypnol is a potent sedative-hypnotic drug prescribed extensively throughout the world, but illicit in the United States. Its sedative effect intensifies when it is combined with other sedatives, antidepressants, analgesics, or other tranquilizers. Its effects are long-lasting. Blood levels peak 1 to 2 hours after ingestion of a 1 milligram dose and fall to half their peak after 16-35 hours. This drug has recently become popular among youth in the United States as a cheap means of intoxication. It has subsequently become the focus of many criminal investigations. College men are alleged to slip Rohypnol tablets into unsuspecting women's drinks and then to sexually abuse their sedated victims. Police agencies and drug policy groups consider Rohypnol to be an imminent problem, but little is actually known about patterns of misuse. The drug's manufacturer is greatly concerned about the misuse of the product, is funding the distribution of educational fliers on Rohypnol to health care providers and police agencies, has initiated studies about patterns of Rohypnol abuse, and is working on a formulation that will dissolve more slowly when placed into liquids. Notes, author biographies and photographs, and 25 references (Author abstract modified)