Nurse describes what happened when her drink was drugged
QUESTION: I’m a registered nurse who has been “roofied” — had my drink secretly drugged — twice.
The first time, I was unable to use my legs at all and alcohol was not a factor, nor was any other medications.
After I had surgery at 18, I learned that I was allergic to that drug family (benzodiazepines) and almost died. Thanks to my quick-thinking doctor, I survived. The second time was just last year. I’d been drinking and trusted a friend to watch our drinks, but she didn’t.
My reaction, since I was already on another medication, was severe.
I was just two blocks from my work but was so confused that I was lost. I made no sense, but could talk and stumble/walk.
I couldn’t write a text message as I didn’t remember how to spell, nor remember my address.
I couldn’t make calls because I couldn’t figure out how to use the phone.
My friend’s boyfriend called me to locate her as we’d all gotten separated. The flashing green “answer” icon was the only way I was able to answer the phone.
He came and got me, put me in a cab, and sent me home safely.
My point: When you unwillingly take drugs that are unknown to you, there’s a huge issue with your reaction to it.
I know that most “roofie” doses are based on a person weighing 150 pounds. If a person is drinking alcohol, the drug can boost the effect severely.
If the person is tiny, it can make things worse.
For me to be lost so near my work, in a city where I was born and raised, is a severe effect.
For your readers, here are the signs and symptoms of a person who has been drugged: Confusion, disorientation, inability to perform simple tasks, like giving home and work addresses.
Also, inability to maintain appearance, put on make-up, or put a winter coat back on. Inability to walk safely, or to make a call or text.
Inability to determine your location, or function as an independent adult. The drugged person also becomes withdrawn and sedated. I was with friends, so I was lucky. People need to understand what happens to someone’s body and mind when “roofied.” They need to know which drugs are potentiated (boosted) by alcohol.
ANSWER: Roofie is the street name for a small white tablet of the powerful benzodiazepine sedative and hypnotic drug named Rohypnol.
In Canada and the U.S., it’s illegal to possess, traffic, import or produce Rohypnol.
Date-rape drug awareness means taking the precautions when out drinking. These are from a “Date Violence” fact sheet:
1. Watch out for your friends, and have them watch out for you.
2. Never leave your drink unattended, not even to go to the bathroom, or the dance floor. Have a trusted friend watch it.
3. Never accept a drink from someone you don’t know, or don’t trust 100 per cent. Mix your own drink, get it yourself, or watch it being poured.
Rohypnol is colourless, odourless, and tasteless when dissolved in any liquid. The effects are enhanced when mixed with alcohol, causing sedation, loss of inhibitions, relaxation, blackouts and amnesia.
It can also cause respiratory depression, coma, and even death.
The drug takes effect after 20-30 minutes and effects may last eight to 12 hours.
When combined with alcohol, Rohypnol causes severe disorientation and blackouts, also typically eight to 12 hours long.
The victim may or may not appear “awake” during this time.
FEEDBACK: Regarding the guy’s girlfriend who said she was raped after drinking with a man she’d just met:
Reader: Of course sexual assault is wrong. What this woman did was go to a room with a stranger and have sex.
That’s why people go to hotels. The correct advice to her boyfriend would be “Run! Run away! She is not worth the effort or the compromise to your life.”
Women need to take responsibility for their actions.
Ellie: The boyfriend’s details of what happened are being ignored here.
What was included in his request for advice was that his girlfriend takes a regular medication. And the hotel tape showed that she was stumbling when she entered the hotel and said she’d blacked out there.
I’m hoping the above information saves some people not only from sexual assault following drug-enhanced drinking, but also from a rush to blame the victim.
QUESTION: My husband and I have families who ignore the successful.
When I was first in my family to get a Master’s degree, no one from my extended family congratulated me. But they enable a cousin to abandon her child in favour of an endless stream of boyfriends.
When my husband was first in his family to attend and graduate college, only his mom and me) cared at all.
Among my relatives, drug users and alcoholics are praised while college grads (three of us now) are ignored or criticized for not living in their hometown.
ANSWER: The rewards of education are mostly personal. You know what you’ve achieved, and how it’s enhanced your life in many ways. Your family members likely envy your jobs and your lifestyle, and perhaps believe that they didn’t have the same chances (also a sad attitude). TIP OF THE DAY Be aware that medications and especially date-rape drugs (roofies) taken when drinking alcohol have a dangerous effect.
Ellie Tesher’s column appears Monday to Saturday. Email: ellie@thestar.ca