A date rape drug is any drug that incapacitates another person and renders that person vulnerable to sexual assault, including rape. The substances are associated with date rape because of reported incidents of their use in the context of two people dating, during which the victim is sexually assaulted or raped or suffers other harm. However, substances have also been exploited during retreats, for example ayahuasca retreats. The substances are not exclusively used to perpetrate sexual assault or rape, but are the properties or side-effects of substances normally used for legitimate medical purposes. One of the most common incapacitating agents for date rape is alcohol, administered either surreptitiously or consumed voluntarily, rendering the victim unable to make informed decisions or give consent.
Frequency
No comprehensive data exists on the frequency of drug-facilitated sexual assaults involving the use of surreptitious drug administration, due to the report rate of assaults and because rape victims who do report are often either never tested for these drugs, are tested for the wrong ones, or the tests are administered after the drug has been metabolized and left their body.
A 1999 study of 1,179 urine specimens from victims of suspected drug-facilitated sexual assaults in 49 American states found six (0.5%) positive for Rohypnol, 97 (8%) positive for other benzodiazepines, 48 (4.1%) positive for GHB, 451 (38%) positive for alcohol and 468 (40%) negative for any of the drugs searched for. A similar study of 2,003 urine samples of victims of suspected drug-facilitated sexual assaults found less than 2% tested positive for Rohypnol or GHB. The samples used in these studies could only be verified as having been submitted within a 72-hour time frame or a 48-hour time frame.
A three-year study in the UK detected sedatives or disinhibiting drugs that victims said they had not voluntarily taken in the urine of two percent of suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault victims. In 65% of the 1,014 cases included in this study, testing could not be conducted within a time frame that would allow detection of GHB. A 2009 Australian study found that of 97 instances of patients admitted to hospital believing their drinks might have been spiked, illicit drugs were detected in 28% of samples, and nine cases were identified as "plausible drink spiking cases". This study defined a "plausible drink spiking case" in such a way that cases where (a) patients believed that their drink had been spiked, and (b) lab tests showed agents that patients said they had not ingested would still be ruled out as plausible if the patient did not also (c) exhibit "signs and symptoms" that were considered "consistent with agents detected by laboratory screening."
Documented routes of administration
Oral
In slang, a Mickey Finn (or simply a Mickey) is a drink laced with a psychoactive drug or incapacitating agent (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge, with intent to incapacitate them. Serving someone a "Mickey" is most commonly referred to as "slipping someone a mickey". Drink spiking is common practice by predators at drinking establishments who often lace alcoholic drinks with sedative drugs.
Syringe injection
Multiple reports of needle spiking were reported by young women in the United Kingdom from 2021 onwards.
On 27 October 2021, the Garda Síochána (Irish police) began an investigation after a woman was spiked with a needle in a Dublin nightclub.
Documented date rape drugs
Depressants
Alcohol, consumed voluntarily, is the most commonly used drug involved in sexual assaults. Since the mid-1990s, the media and researchers have also documented an increased use of drugs such as flunitrazepam and ketamine to facilitate sexual assaults in the context of dating. Other drugs that have been used include hypnotics such as zopiclone, methaqualone and the widely available zolpidem (Ambien), sedatives such as neuroleptics (anti-psychotics), chloral hydrate and some histamine H1 antagonists, common recreational drugs such as ethanol, cocaine, and less common anticholinergics, barbiturates, opioids, PCP, scopolamine, nasal spray ingredient oxymetazoline, and certain GABAergics like GHB. Also gamma-Butyrolactone is often referred to be used in sexual assaults.