Pubdate: Mon, 26 Dec 2005
Source: Monitor, The (McAllen, TX)
Copyright: 2005 The Monitor
Contact:  http://www.themonitor.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250
Author: Cari Hammerstrom, The Monitor
Note: Cari Hammerstrom covers law enforcement and general assignments 
for The Monitor.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/date+rape (date rape)

DATE-RAPE DRUGS STILL PREVALENT

EDINBURG -- Sexual assault nurse examiner Janie Cantu-Cabrera vividly
remembers when police came to her four to five years ago with two
teenaged sisters who had been drugged at a Pharr hotel party and then
raped, possibly repeatedly.

The younger sister, who was 13 at the time, told the nurse that all
she could recall was being trapped inside a bathtub while several
faces hovered above her. Standing in the door frame was her older
sister, 18, just watching.

The older sister, Cantu-Cabrera said, told the nurse that all she
could remember from the previous night was seeing her sibling in the
shower. Both of the girls reported feeling "funny" in the genital area.

"Both had physical findings of sexual assault," Cantu-Cabrera
said.

These girls were both likely drugged with Rohypnol, she said -- a
substance local teens still commonly abuse for recreation because of
the euphoric state it can induce, and that predators use to facilitate
rapes because of how it lowers victims' inhibitions.

According to Juan J. Gonzales, Edinburg Consolidated Independent
School District police chief, the prescription sleep aid Ambien is
also "very popular" among local youth.

"It's becoming more and more widely known," he said.

These kind of reports make it especially important for revelers as
they head out to parties this holiday season.

Even though statistics from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
point to a decrease in the availability of the drug on a national
scale, Texas has experienced a spike in poison control calls and
treatment admissions for Rohypnol, especially among Hispanic youth
living along the border.

"It's gotten worse," Cantu-Cabrera said, referring to the recreational
use of prescription drugs.

Kids as young as 12 years old are now taking Rohypnol, or roche pills
as they are commonly called. Pills cost as little as $1. And although
the pills are illegal in the United States, they can be bought with
ease in Mexico and smuggled across the border.

And earlier this month at a meeting in which sexual assault victims'
advocates, law enforcement officials and nursing community members
came together to discuss the establishment of a Sexual Assault
Response Team, a specialist with the Texas Attorney General's office
also mentioned Ambien as a "date-rape drug" growing in popularity.

Experts working with sexual assault victims say they have never seen a
confirmed case of Ambien used to commit a rape in Hidalgo County;
however, some do see the potential for this type of abuse and are
concerned about the trend the sexual assault community development
specialist, Lisa Zapata-Maling, has recognized elsewhere in the state.

"It's going to put someone to sleep," said Vanessa Recio, a pharmacist
with Saenz Pharmacy in Mission.

Recio said Ambien is widely prescribed, but it is mostly approved for
adults. It is classified as a controlled medication, along with
Vicodin and other strong medications with potential for abuse.

"You don't see too many adolescents prescribed a sleep aid," she said.
"I don't know I've ever dispensed an Ambien to a patient under 30."

Ambien causes central nervous system depression and can impair
cognitive thinking.

It's one of the best drugs on the market to treat insomnia, said
Andrea Lerma, a psychiatric clinical specialist at Tropical Texas
MHMR, which is the state's local mental health facility. Lerma
prescribes Ambien with frequency for patients suffering from major
depression, bipolar disorder and other mental health illnesses.

Some people, however, do experience Ambien amnesia when taking the
drug, she said.

People have been known to get up and cook in the middle of the night
or eat a lot. They wake in the morning to find candy wrappers or dirty
pots and pans, she said, and they don't remember any of it.

Lerma said she can see how Ambien could be used as a "date rape
drug."

It also has a short half-life, which means it is eliminated from the
body very quickly.

One reason why Ambien has not yet gained as much popularity in Hidalgo
County as roche pills is because of its price.

"Ambien is very expensive -- $90 to $100 for a one month supply," Lerma
said. "It's expensive over in Mexico, too."

Ambien is more difficult to obtain, too, said ECISD Police Chief
Gonzales.

"If kids are using it (Ambien), they are getting it somewhere else,"
Cantu-Cabrera said.

Kids could be stealing their parents' or grandparents' pills, said
Diana Cuellar, prevention educator with Women Together/Mujeres Unidas,
a safe house for victims of sexual assault.

"Sleep aids in general are being abused," Cuellar said. "...
Prescription sleep aids are very powerful."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake