Terry’s concern…I read about a new lip gloss that tells if your drink is spiked with date rape drugs. Is it true?
The Right Brain’s reply:
This product you’re referring to is 2LoveMyLips Lip Gloss. The product itself doesn’t detect drugs, but it comes with a test kit that lets you check your drink to make sure it’s not contaminated with Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a common date rape drug. The idea, according to 2LoveMyLips, is to show that just because women want to look sexy doesn’t mean that they want men to attack them. They offer 5 different colors and flavors, each coming a drink testing kit. But is this just a gimmick or do these kits really work?
Do date rape drug test kits really work?
According to the the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, GHB test kits are effective but the results vary depending on the type of drink. In pure water and many alcoholic beverages, the kits work extremely well. But testing of Cosmopolitan and Margarita samples, for example, gave false negatives. The best way to use the kits, according to this report, is to test your drink along side a control drink that you know if not spiked with the drug. That way the color changing test strips can more effectively discriminate between spiked and unspiked samples. (That may be a bit impractical since you’ll have to buy another drink yourself to tell for sure whether or not the other drink is drugged.) Another issue, according to Jezebel.com, is that while it does work GHB, it’s not effective at detecting other drugs like Rohypnol.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
GHB detection kits do work, when used properly. And cheap, effective drug detection kits could be a great way to protect yourself from date rape. But companies using safety to market their products may be walking a very fine line.
What do you think? Is 2LoveMyLips offering protection or exploitation? Would you buy a product that would help keep you safe like this? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
Source: Can. Soc. Forensic Sci. J. Vol. 40. No 3 (2007) pp. 131–141
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
When my sister started college I gave her a big box of date rape drug test strips. Before she goes out to parties with her friends, she passes them out; perhaps paranoia runs in the family. Getting the strips this way was a lot cheaper than 2LoveMyLips, lasts longer (I think the gloss only comes with two strips), and she isn’t stuck with another lip product she’ll never use. While it’s ultimately a gimmick, on the other hand I know some women don’t like to even address the issue of date rape. If this makes it easier for them to approach it, then I guess it’s not all bad.
Please don’t use the word “seduce.” This isn’t seduction we’re talking about here, it’s poisoning. Don’t whitewash it with pretty romance-novel words.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6440589/Date-rape-drink-spiking-an-urban-legend.html
Quote: “There is no evidence of widespread use of hypnotics in sexual assault, let alone Rohypnol, despite many attempts to prove the contrary. ”
Just saying.
Drinking responsibly is much more effective then testing for drugs.
I came to say the same thing as Janis. Rape and seduction is two totally separate things. Seduction can happen between two people whom love each other but one is a little unsure and shy. Anything that happens after the seduction is successful should be entirely consensual. Both people should come out of a seduction satisfied and happy.
Rape is an act of violence and power over the victim. Solely about the pleasure of the rapists.
Please change the wording of this post. I find the word “seduction” when used to describe rape to be extremely offensive. I’ve been sexually assaulted before, and let me tell you, it does NOT feel like being seduced.
“The idea, according to 2LoveMyLips, is to show that just because women want to look sexy doesn’t mean that they want men to attack them.”
Is this a quote? I looked on their website and it doesn’t say anything of the sort. Honestly it sounds like a horribly outdated idea (“she was asking for it; look at the way she dressed!”). Where are you getting this wording?
@Vreify: Yea, I thought that wording was strange too. I checked with Righty who said that was a paraphrased quote from a secondary source (so it’s NOT from 2LoveMyLips website!)
Yttrium, the article you linked is quite interesting. I grew up in a college town, so the specter of date rape drugs loomed over almost every social gathering I attended for years. Having observed years of college excess at home, during my own college years, and during my tenure as a server/bartender, I’m not at all surprised to learn that people are more willing to chalk up inebriated accidents to DRD’s instead of their own doing. I’m not saying that date rape isn’t absolutely heinous; that’s a given. It’s just I can reflect on dozens of lesser, ridiculous things I’ve seen inebriated people do that I’m sure anyone would rather have be caused by a spiked drink rather than their own stupidity and overindulgence.
On the other hand, a kid in my organic chem lab was busted for stealing university equipment to brew up GHB at his frat house, and one of my best friends was assaulted after his–yes, his–drink was spiked with a lovely combination of NyQuil and Rohypnol, so I know the risk isn’t completely fabricated. (Still, the most common date rape trick at my alma mater wasn’t roofies, it was when guys would slip Everclear into highly flavored drinks and pour them down the throats of inexperienced freshmen.) I guess that’s the worst part of the 2LoveMyLips concept: it pulls focus away from more important and effective ways to reduce your risk of being date raped. Monitor your alcohol intake, be aware of your surroundings, use the buddy system, etc. Take charge of your own safety, don’t rely on a flimsy little test strip that doesn’t even work on White Russians!
Oh, and I’d like to say, as someone at Jezebel pointed out, you can buy those same kits for a lot cheaper. So really they’re a marketing ploy.
I don’t think its true but I find it interesting though. I sit really proven and tested? Nice post though.. Keep posting!
Interesting, but how about just buying your own drinks? or watching them being made? Or stop drinking when you have had too much? Date rape is unavoidable, but we can do our part to protect ourselves and we don’t need a kit for that!
Women should be more careful when having dates, It’s really very dangerous especially blind dates that you don’t know well the person. If this is true, then this will surely help lessen those date rapes that are happening.
i appreciate the dialogue this issue has sparked and the additional solutions offered up to help girls and women (and men for that matter) become more savvy. my daughter, who’s a freshman in college, tells me this is a big problem on campus. and i know it’s a problem off campus too as i have friends who have been served drinks (one by a bartender) that were spiked. the outcome was pretty devastating. therefore, i support anything that legitimately works and helps us all stay in control (because it’s not necessarily about over-indulgence).
Does anyone know where you can buy these date rape drug test kits in the US? I was raped and I want to protect my friends as much as I can.