by Karina Guzzi
Daily Lobo
Legislation passed in the New Mexico House and Senate would make it a crime to distribute or possess date rape drugs if Gov. Bill Richardson signs the bill.
The bill makes it a crime to distribute common date rape drugs such as gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and flunitrazepam, or "roofies," with the intent of committing a crime without the recipient's knowledge.
"It protects the victim who unwillingly and unknowingly received one of these from somebody who had evil intentions," said state Rep. Eric Youngberg, who introduced the bill.
According to news release, Youngberg said the use of these drugs has become more prevalent, and women need to be protected.
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"New Mexico needs to take this very important step in protecting women from drugging without their knowledge - drugging that is intended to assist in the more serious crime of rape," Youngberg said in the release.
According to 2004 statistics, about 12 percent of people who go to the Sexual Nurse Examiners Unit know a perpetrator intentionally drugged them said Dianna Simosko, community education coordinator at the Albuquerque Rape Crisis Center.
The bill also defines penalties related to the distribution of these drugs and imposes additional penalties for possession of controlled substances on drug-free campuses.
The bill makes the first offense of distributing GHB a third-degree felony subject to six years imprisonment and up to a $5,000 fine. Subsequent offenses are considered a second-degree felony with penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment and a maximum $12,500 fine.
The bill also makes it a fourth-degree felony to possess any amount of GHB or flunitrazepam. It is a crime punishable by up to 18 months imprisonment and up to a $5,000 fine.
Youngberg created the bill to help prosecute date rape drug cases.
"Currently it's not clear," he said. "You have to jump from statute to statute to prosecute when this occurs, and this makes it very clear that this is an illegal offense."
Students said the creation of the bill is a positive thing.
"It's about time," said Tova Cardillo, a nursing student at UNM. "It is a bigger problem in our culture than we allow ourselves to think."
Protecting students on college campuses is part of the bill's goal, Youngberg said.
"In contemplating this bill, college campuses do come up as a concern," he said. "At a fraternity party, and at the sorority party for that matter, there could easily be one of these drugs in your drink."
People need to be protected from date rape drugs because they affect the victim's memory, which makes prosecution very difficult.
"The insidious part is that victims sometimes have no recollection of what happened," Youngberg said. "They technically erase your brain's short-term memory. It knocks you out. It makes you completely incapacitated."
Simosko said it is very difficult to test for date rape drugs because they flush out of your body quickly.
The governor needs to sign the bill within the next 15 days for it to become law.
