When combined with alcohol, these effects are compounded and can lead to coma. The video offers suggestions on how to avoid becoming a victim of this type of crime. Survivors stress watching your drink being made, maintaining custody of your drink, and having a strict buddy system set up in advance of going out for the evening. Interspersed with the victims' accounts and reenactments are interviews with professionals such as a district attorney, a police officer, and a doctor. The focus of these interviews is not only the effects of these drugs, but the investigation and prosecution of cases in which these drugs are used by perpetrators of sexual assault.
Date rape is difficult to prosecute and is underreported.
The professionals interviewed in the video as well as one of the victims were involved in one of the first date rape drug cases prosecuted in the United States. They provide suggestions for conducting an investigation, such as getting a search warrant immediately in order to search an alleged perpetrator's residence, interviewing everyone in the alleged perpetrator's acquaintance because often they work in partnerships or groups to set up a victim, and taking urine samples from the victim at the hospital since traces of Rohypnol may stay in the urine for up to thirty-six hours. The video's participants also touch on the issue of manufacturing the drug and debate various ways to make drugs like Rohypnol safer for legitimate consumption rather than having the U.S. Congress vote to make them illegal substances. The Rape Drug is an informative introduction to the growing problem of using drugs to sexually assault victims. It brings to light an insidious problem as well as the courage and ingenuity required in the pursuit of justice.