Pubdate: Fri, 28 Oct 2005
Source: Peace Arch News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Peace Arch News
Contact:  http://www.peacearchnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1333
Author: Kate Trotter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs)

PETITION TARGETS DATE-RAPE DRUGS

A 10,000-name petition calling for tougher penalties for people using 
date-rape drugs was tabled in Parliament by Conservative MP James Moore. On 
International Women's Day, Moore, MP for Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam 
launched a university and college campus campaign to gain support to enact 
tougher laws against date-rape drugs. "Date-rape drugs have become a menace 
to women," Moore said. Typically date-rape drugs are secretly slipped into 
drinks or food; once ingested they act rapidly, rendering the victim 
unconscious and unresponsive with little or no memory while the drug was 
active. Traces of the drug can leave the body within 72 hours and often do 
not show up in routine toxicology or blood tests. Although these drugs are 
controlled substances like heroin and cocaine, possession is almost never 
met with jail time, and penalties are light, Moore said. Moore has a 
Private Member's Motion (M-189) before Parliament, which recommends GHB and 
Rohypnol, the most common date-rape drugs, be identified in the Criminal 
Code under a separate schedule as "date-rape drugs" with new, tougher 
penalties. The motion would establish a national initiative to educate 
women on the dangers of date-rape drugs and related substances; and create 
a national task force to establish guidelines for collection and 
documentation of evidence in sexual assault cases.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom