New California law requires bars and clubs to offer drug testing devices to protect patrons from spiked drinks

A new law in California will require bars and clubs to offer drug testing devices in an effort to protect patrons from drinks spiked with “date rape drugs.”

The law, Assembly Bill 1013came into effect on Monday.

2,400 establishments with California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Type 48 licenses, which authorize the sale of beer, wine and spirits, will be required to offer the testing devices free of charge or at a price “not to exceed a reasonable value based on the wholesale cost,” the department said in a release.

It will also require locations to have signage with the message: “Don’t get high! Drink spike drug testing kits available here. Ask a team member for details.

Ponds and clubs will be responsible for providing kits in the form of test strips, stickers, straws or other devices that “can detect the presence of controlled substances in drinks”, such as flunitrazepam, ketamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid.

These are all considered “date rape drugs” that predators can slip into a person’s drink, and their effects are worsened by alcohol, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Rohypnol, the brand name for flunitrazepam, produces “sedative-hypnotic, anxiolytic, and muscle relaxant effects,” according to the DEA. It has not been approved for medical use in the US by the Food and Drug Administration, but outside the country it is prescribed to treat insomnia. It can be dissolved in liquid and is misused “to physically and psychologically incapacitate victims targeted by sexual assault,” the DEA said.

Ketamine is a general anesthetic that “makes individuals feel disconnected from their bodies and their environment” and is used as a date rape drug to render victims unable to move or fight back, according to one study. DEA Report. It can also cause amnesia, meaning victims cannot remember the events that occurred.

Gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, is another name for the generic medication sodium oxybate. Although it exists under the trade name Xyrem and is approved by the FDA as a prescription medication to improve daytime sleepiness, it has been misused for euphoric and calming effects. the DEA he said.

Misuse of GHB became popular among young people at dance clubs and raves in the 1990s and also “gained notoriety as a date rape drug,” according to the DEA. The use of GHB can cause drowsiness, confusion and memory impairment, as well as producing visual hallucinations and excited and aggressive behavior. However, at high doses, GHB overdose can result in unconsciousness, seizures, slowed heart rate, coma, and death.

Failure to comply with California’s new law could leave license holders facing “administrative actions that impact their licenses,” the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said.