Illegal Sedative Used on Rape Victims

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —  The night before Mark Perez was to stand trial, a prosecution witness sat weeping in her bathtub, praying Perez would be exposed as a rapist who drugged his victims with a cheap but potent pill.

She had but one brief memory of her unwilling encounter with Perez, which she says occurred after Perez gave her a drink laced with the illegal sedative Rohypnol, known among users and law enforcement officials alike as “roofies” or “date-rape pills.”

“We were on the couch,” she said. “I came to for about 45 seconds when he was pulling my clothes off. I said ‘No, stop,’ but my arms were like jelly. I then passed out again.”

The Fort Lauderdale woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Lisa, remembers nothing more of the assault.

“You don’t see, you don’t hear, you don’t know anything going on,” Lisa said. “Nothing. You’re just like a dead person.”

Ten times more powerful than the commonly prescribed sedative Valium, Rohypnol is used legally in 64 countries before surgery and to treat insomnia.

Banned in the United States, Rohypnol is nevertheless gaining in underground popularity, especially in Southern states and among teenagers and people in their 20s who commonly combine it with other drugs.

If you’re drinking beer, getting smashed is easier and cheaper with a roofie. If you’re using cocaine, coming off a high is a lot smoother with a roofie.

In South Florida, one roofie--a small, white tablet that leaves no taste or odor when dissolved in a drink--costs as little as $1.50, about $5 less than the going price a year ago, said Pamela Brown, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Florida.

Rohypnol seizures in Florida have soared. More than 136,000 pills have been confiscated in the eight months since October. That compares to just 42,000 seized from October 1994 through September 1995.

Florida and Texas are hot spots for Rohypnol abuse, but the problem is spreading, according to the DEA, which in February counted about 2,400 Rohypnol investigations in 24 states. The most cases per state were 1,000 in Texas, 660 in Florida, 150 in Louisiana, 86 in Arizona and 52 in Oklahoma.

Men who use roofies in rapes are far fewer than teenagers looking for cheap highs.

But Perez, who bragged to friends that he had raped almost two dozen women after slipping them roofies, is just the tip of the iceberg, said Bob Nichols, the Broward County prosecutor who handled the case.

Nichols said he’s gotten calls from victims all over the country, most of whom have shied from going to police because their memories are so shaky.

“I’ve talked to 20 victims easily,” he said.

Here’s what he typically hears: A woman attends a party or visits a bar. A man introduces himself, chats for a while and offers to get her a drink. Ten to 20 minutes later, she feels dizzy, disoriented, then nauseous and chilled or overwarm. She realizes she’s having trouble talking and moving her arms and legs.

Before she passes out, she’s briefly aware of her circumstances but can’t respond. It’s like “being on the inside looking out,” Nichols said.

When she comes to, the woman has little memory of what happened.

Here’s what usually happens, Nichols said: The generous guy who bought the drink is the soul of solicitousness, guiding the woman, who to all outward appearances has drunk too much, to her car. He reads her driver’s license, then drives her home and uses her keys to get in. He leaves only after raping her.

Broward County, just north of Miami, has six pending sexual assault cases involving Rohypnol. The Perez case was one of the first. Lisa, mercifully, never had to testify. The morning his trial was to begin in June 1995, Perez pleaded no contest to sexual battery of an incapacitated person, a first-degree felony. He is serving an eight-year term.

Rohypnol is now grouped with drugs that have a low potential for abuse, like Valium. The DEA wants to move it to the top class of illegal drugs, such as heroin and LSD. So does Florida Atty. Gen. Bob Butterworth, who is using his authority to make the change even though he will be bucking legislative sentiment.

This spring, Florida lawmakers backed away from reclassifying the drug. They decided instead to increase the penalties for criminal abuse to those used for heroin and LSD.

Butterworth is holding a hearing on the proposed change June 17 in Fort Lauderdale, and Lisa plans to testify.

Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., which manufactures Rohypnol in Mexico and Colombia, supports stricter punishment for criminal use but objects to reclassification, said Al Wasilewski, a company spokesman at headquarters in Nutley, N.J.

The company hopes to combat abuse by limiting direct sales, funding research, working with law enforcement and developing educational materials, Wasilewski said. He also points out that rapists can turn to other substances.

“Alcohol is the No. 1 date-rape drug in the country,” he said.

But Nichols notes that no other drug is as tailored to a rapist’s needs.

“We’ve never come up with a pill that has these specific characteristics,” he said. “I know of no [other] pill that erases your memory and takes effect in 10 minutes.”