In Israel two researchers working at the Tel Aviv University claim to have invented a sensor which can detect date rape drugs in beverages with a high degrees of accuracy.
Date rape drugs, also known as "drink spiking", have sedative, hypnotic, dissociative, and/or amnesiac effects, and can be added to a food or drink without the victim's knowledge and help facilitate sexual exploitation.
The data from the US Department of Justice estimated that nearly 200,000 women were raped in the United Stated with the help of date rape drugs in the year 2007. Unfortunately only 16% of the victims actually got around to reporting the incident to the authorities.
Most of the victims are teens or young adults who are attending trace parties, clubs or bars. As per analysts there are nearly half a million women who may be suffering from date rape on an annual basis world wide.
Professor Fernando Patolsky and Doctor Michael Ioffe of Tel Aviv University’s school of chemistry have developed a sensor that can tell someone, in real-time, whether or not their drink has been altered. They claim a 100% accuracy and are now working on miniaturizing the system so that it can be mass produced.
Ioffe said that to use the sensor you just dip it into your drink. It might actually look like a stirrer in the final production. It’s tiny, very tiny. You don’t even have to hold it up to the light and the system will let you know whether there are drugs dissolved in your drink.