Date Rape Drug Found at Brown University

At least one student drank punch spiked with date rape drug at October frat party
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2014 4:00 AM CST
Date Rape Drug Found at Brown University
In this Sept. 24, 2002, photo, a cocktail sits atop a date rape drug-detection coaster made in Sausalito, Calif.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

When two students felt extremely inebriated really quickly and then suffered memory loss at a Brown University frat party in mid-October, and one of them reported being sexually assaulted, they took their concerns to school officials, wondering if the punch was spiked. Now one of those students has tested positive for the date rape drug gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), an odorless, colorless drug popularized for its calming effects at dance clubs in the '90s and ultimately becoming known as a date rape drug. The second student's test results are still pending, reports the Providence Journal.

Officials at Brown have taken swift action, suspending fraternity Phi Kappa Psi, which hosted the Oct. 17 party. The school has also opened a criminal investigation and sent a letter to its students warning them to be on alert, reports CBS News. The positive test results came in just days after new federal rules for how to handle sexual assault on campuses went into effect; Brown is one of 85 schools being investigated by the Department of Education for how it handles such cases. The White House estimates that one in five women will be sexually assaulted on campus, while only 13% of them will report the assault. (Some colleges are allegedly investigating as few as one in seven reported sexual assault cases.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X