The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 18, 1996, Page 2, Image 2
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.
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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
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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
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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"
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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."
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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."
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