According to a study published in the British Journal of Criminology, the idea that "date rape drugs" are in widespread use is - wait for it - an urban legend:
A study of more than 200 students revealed many wrongly blamed the effects of a "bad night out" on date-rape drugs, when they had just drunk excessively.
Many are in "active denial" that drinking large amounts of alcohol can leave them "incoherent and incapacitated", the Kent University researchers concluded.
Young women's fears about date-rape drugs are so ingrained that students mistakenly think it is a more important factor in sexual assault than being drunk, taking drugs or walking alone at night.
At first glance, this might seem like classic "blame the victim" bullshit, but wait now - who on earth gave these people the idea that "date rape drugs" were prevalent in the first place? Kids didn't invent that idea from scratch, did they? Couldn't possibly even remotely be tied to, I don't know, gee, let's take a guess here,
bullshit war on drugs fear-mongering?
Naw, that's just crazy talk. Besides, "alcohol as date rape drug" is a meme that has definitely failed to catch on, despite decades of evidence, so better candidates were practically
required. For the kids, you understand.
On a side note, GHB remains totally fun. Rohypnol, well, I don't remember so well.
