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date rape

At this stage, we all know the dangers of leaving our drinks unattended on a night out, and while we're generally pretty good at keeping tabs on our G&Ts, we have been known to take our eye off the ball.

An unattended drink can provide the perfect opportunity for someone to engage in a 'drug-facilitated crime', leaving the victim at risk of attack or sexual assault – a scenario that has become all to common over the past decade or so.

However, one college student reckons she may have figured out a way to prevent these situations from occurring in the future.

Danya Sherman, a third-year student at George Washington University in DC, felt compelled to find a solution after her friend was drugged and assaulted while studying abroad in Spain.

After hearing the horrific tale, Danya created the KnoNap – a napkin capable of testing for 26 of the 40 most commonly used date rape drugs including Rohypnol, Xanax, Valium.

Speaking to The Independent, she explained: “It was the first time I actually became aware of the issue and it became very personal.”

So, how does it work?

If a person suspects that their drink has been tampered with, they would simply drop a small sample onto one of the napkins four corners.

Should the KnoNap detect the presence of an illicit substance, the area beside the test sample will display a clear change in colour.

Although the product is still in the early-stages, it's understood that Sherman and KnoNap are now working with manufacturers, with plans for a Kickstarter campaign starting in Spring.

Speaking about her goals for the invention, Danya said: “What I hope my company is able to push for is social change, greater awareness of the issue, but at the end of the day, empower individuals to be safer so that no one else has to say ‘me too.’”

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Three American school girls have made it their mission to provide people with an easy and effective way to tell if their drink has been spiked.

Susana Cappello, Carolina Biagorri and Victoria Roca, who all attend the same Miami high-school, have just invented a straw which can test your drink on the spot.

The 'Smart Straws' will be able to detect the presence of GBH and ketamine, two of the most commonly used date rape drugs.

Speaking to A Plus, Susana revealed the inspiration behind the project:

"Rapes assisted by drugs or alcohol are all too common. We just want to give any gender a simple tool to protect themselves."

As part of their research, the students carried out a survey at Northwestern University.

The results revealed that around 50 per cent of the participants said they knew someone who had been drugged at a party, and 85 per cent said they would be interested in using the drug-detection product.

The trio are currently in talks with a testing kit manufacturer, and plan to begin a crowd-funding campaign to raise the funds needed to start the project.

Of course, this is not the first project of its kind. Previously, a drug-testing nail polish was deemed to be the next big thing, but unfortunately developers have not been able to get it off the ground.

Although the straws will only be able to test for the presence of two drugs, these girls are definitely heading in the right direction.

If they are capable of developing such a sophisticated product in high-school, just imagine what developments could be made in the future.  

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Doing your nails before a night out may well become a safety necessity if this new nail polish is as good as it sounds.

It’s called ‘Undercover Colors’ and apparently changes colour when exposed to date rape drugs such as Rohypnol, GHB or Xanax.

The revolutionary product was created by a group of students Tyler Confrey-Maloney, Stephen Gray, Ankesh Madan and Tasso Von Windheim for a competition which encouraged students to solve real-world problems.

The students explained: “While date rape drugs are often used to facilitate sexual assault, very little science exists for their detection. With our nail polish, any woman will be empowered to discreetly ensure her safety by simply stirring her drink with her finger. If her nail polish changes colour, she’ll know that something is wrong.

“Through this nail polish and similar technologies, we hope to make potential perpetrators afraid to spike a woman’s drink because there’s now a risk that they can get caught. In effect, we want to shift the fear from the victims to the perpetrators.”

Style AND safety in one package? We like it – we like it a lot.

 

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