Date rape is one of college's dirty secrets. When I was preparing to pack up and move out to school in Virginia, I was warned me about the consequences of binge drinking and the importance of studying, but no one ever said, "Watch out for date rapists!"
I guess the various ways of defending yourself from date rape are filed under the "Duh" category. Don't leave your drink unattended, travel in groups, don't go home with strange men. Nevertheless, something like one in four college women will fall victim to date rape or attempted date rape.
But now there is a tool to help women (and men) ward off the creepy men (or women) lurking in the shadows waiting to drop a date rape drug in your drink.
You can now
buy coasters where that can test your drink to see if it has been tampered with. All you do is drop a little bit of your drink on to the circle. If it changes color it means that there is some level of GHB or ketamine in your drink.
Bars in Texas are beginning to keep these coasters in stock, and I think it's one step forward for mankind. Any measure that will help decrease the date rape statistics is something to applaud. I can only hope more establishments across the country will follow suit.
Drink safe, date safe and be safe. It's every parents' motto for their children. Drink safe coasters are just one more thing parents have to help them sleep well at night.
Have you been a victim of date rape or know someone who has? What do you think of these drink safe coasters?
Bars in Texas are beginning to keep these coasters in stock, and I think it's one step forward for mankind. Any measure that will help decrease the date rape statistics is something to applaud. I can only hope more establishments across the country will follow suit.
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Comments (61)
I am glad they exist. It is a shame that there are so many men out there who would commit date-rape that they had to make special coasters... What is that old saying about "all men" again?
:DD
Every bar should start carrying these. It is an awesome idea! That will make people less tempted to use the date rape drug.
People who date rape are disgusting. I don't know how people can treat others so badly. It's really messed up.
Old news. Alcohol is a date rape drug. It's just that no one usually calls it rape.
I know a couple girls who have, yeah. One of them was raped three times in one year (I think one of them was date rape, like the third one), and her fiance broke up with her after someone raped her the first time because "someone else had gotten to her first".
I think these coasters can be helpful (it's horrible that someone had to think of it though), but doesn't this put the pressure of not getting raped on the women?
How about inventing something that can get people to stop raping other people and put the responsibility on them for a change? Instead of blaming the victim, blame and go after the damn rapists already.
Good idea!!!
good to know a tester is becoming available, I hope it gets some stream so that every bar has them. You be careful now, don't become a victim.
That's really great! (about the coasters I mean...)
i've been a victim as well as my sister &+ i think that this is an AMAZING idea!
The lack of warning about date rape - may also have something to do with the fact that people are more often raped by someone they know (and trust!) rather than a stranger.
Also, those coasters are a brilliant idea.
@Dare2BDiferentt@xanga - That's so messed up about the rape and the fiancé on top of it all. I'm glad she didn't marry someone who didn't really care about her, though.
I'm appalled that this is news to people. In the 1990s there was already talk of a company that had made the prototype, and in the early 2000s the product was on the market (see this article from 2002.)
isn't 1/4 a bit exaggerated?
Great idea :D
this is brilliant!
The coasters are a great idea. I know a girl who was date raped. A whole big group of guys took advantage of her that night. What a terrible thing to happen.
That's a great idea.
Great idea but honestly whos going to buy some coasters to take with them?
What if you're super sauced i can barely put my drink down in the same spot let alone read a coaster?
@Shimmerbodycream@xanga.com - totally agree. alcohol itself can be a date rape drug.
terrible that there's even a need for these things.
Its a great idea if every bar EVER sold these!
and i mean sold, because people would probably abuse and play around with them.
and the price charge would probably be like a dollar or something =D
I find it hard to believe that half of the people who say they were date raped were. Most of them were either taken advantage of (which means it was consensual but, because of impaired judgement). Or they simply drank until they blacked out, and since they can't remember what happened, they MUST have been 'raped'. Roofies are not as common as many people seem to believe.
its not terrible that these are needed its terrible that it took so long for somebody to come up with this. so um watch your friends . . . yeah same sex happens top ya kno
lovelyish also featured a lipgloss that does the same thing. :)
Ugh not that plausible, maybe in the first couple drinks but I sure as hell wouldn't be testing my drinks after the first couple shots since I'd most likely spill half my drink on that thing.
I think the best anti-date-rape is a wingman/woman that'll watch over you.