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ROHYPNOL continued from page issue, as far as we are concerned, is inappropriate," she said. This is a drug that has a legitimate use, albeit outside the country. It is not a drug of the potential for misuse and abuse like heroin and LSD. It has no business being classified with substances like that. Ifs a misrepresentation and an artificial use of a system and a classification that has a reputation and has very specific controls." i Glynn said Hoffman-La Roche has taken several steps to limit the opportunities for Rohypnol diversion. Tn +U? 1 Jit. ah lucAitu, tuc uumpaiijr luwei eu uie number of national distributors from 200 to 16, and it eliminated all direct sales to pharmacies. "To get Rohypnol in Mexico to a legitimate patient, there's only 16 channels of distribution,'' she said "That cut back significantly on the opportunities for diversion. We've seen a definite decline in seizures at the border." Hoffman-La Roche also took the two milligram dosage of Rohypnol off" of the worldwide market because it "seemed to have the greatest potential for misuse," Glynn said. Sales of the two milligram dosage were stopped in Colombia and Mexico on June 1 and in the rest of Latin America on Sept. 1. Glynn said Hoffman-La Roche has been working with law enforcement agencies unfamiliar with Rohypnol to educate them about the drug. She said the company made free urine tests available to law enforcement agencies because urine tests are the most sensitive and reliable way to detect Rohypnol in the body. The current Rohypnol tablet is colorless and tasteless, which makes it Every year thousands of babies die AH of choking, suffocating or other breathing emergencies. Don't J|^HPpPP|l| let yours be one of them. America UL'J CI J *r[HTj A Tank Tickets ava I A n. I _1 undetectable when covertly slipped into a drink, Glynn said. Hoffman-La Roche has been working for about a year on a Rohypnol tablet with a taste and color that would not dissolve quickly in liquid. The company tried a coating, but it caused the pill to dissolve too quickly in the body, which enhanced the drug's effects, she said. "We have not yet been successful in finding an alternative formulation that would also continue to be acceptable to natipnts wlm nooH it " cVia aaiH "TViaro have been a number of anticipated successes that have not yet come to fruition, but it's certainly something we're continuing to pursue very aggressively. We're hoping we'll be able to introduce something as quickly as possible." Rohypnol and rape in South Carolina Despite Rohypnol's concentrated presence in the Southeast, there have been no reports of Rohypnol trafficking or misuse in South Carolina, according to the State Law Enforcement Division. Whenever there is a drug bust in South Carolina and law enforcement officials seize pills, they send them to ST .FT) for analysis, but no one has turned in any Rohypnol, SLED Chief Toxicologist Ken Habben said. "I wouldn't think it would be hard to find Rohypnol," he said. "It seems like somebody would be selling it out there, and we'd have some drugs come into the lab. We get Valium because people sell Valium all the time. I just don't understand. We know it's in-Florida, and we know if s all around us, but we just haven't seen any signs of it yet." Habben said there have been "some" f Si I 9s3/ Is# M Hi " in Red Cross im (Am s> FRIDi Your ( UGUSTA-R \bbott, M liable at the C CV\ \ rape cases in South Carolina where Rohypnol was suspected, but SLED investigations determined the rape victims were sedated by alcohol, not Rohypnol. "Basically, with it being a date rape drug, we've had that kind of situation for years," he said. "People are all the time trying to booze up their girlfriends so they get semiconscious. Ifs nothing new or novel. Ifs just a different way." When Rnhvnnnl is liseri as a nmlnrlo -J 1 """" to sexual assault, the victims may have blurred recollections and not remember where the rapes occurred or who assaulted them, Rape Crisis Network Director ofVolunteers and Community Relations Christina Derrick said. "I would suspect that there would be a great deal of self-blame," she said. "We see that with any victim of sexual assault, but I think it would be compounded if the person had been out drinking. I think they would feel some sense of'if I hadn't been doing that, I wouldn't have been assaulted.' It's absolutely not their fault." Derrick said a rape involving Rohypnol is more difficult to prosecute because the drug affects the victim's memory of the assault. "I think some of it has to do with somebody just taking a position that they are going to fight for a particular victim," she said. "It takes a victim who's willing to take the stand, even though her recollection may not be complete. Thats a scary thing for a lot of people to do. I think we still live in a society where the crime itself [rapel has a lot of stigma attached to it. When the details of the assault are not complete, its more difficult, but its not impossible." 1 student Media Vkk4i^_ jHLLLLUflk. MDA covers America with the most complete range of services for people affected by neuromuscular diseases. 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