Drug-facilitated crimes. Evidence by hair analysis

Introduction In the last few years, considerable information about drug-facilitated crimes (rape, sexual assault, robbery, sedation of persons) has accumulated. In these situations, the victims are subjected to non-consensual acts while they are incapacitated through the effects of a drug. This impairs their ability to resist or to give consent to the act. In a typical scenario, a predator (rapist, robber) surreptitiously spikes a drink of an unsuspecting person with a hypnotic drug. Victims, both women and men, usually report loss of memory during and after the event. For the perpetrator, the ideal substance is one that is readily available, is easy to administer, rapidly impairs consciousness and causes anterograde amnesia (i.e. it prevents the recall of events that occurred whilst under the influence of the drug but not general memory). Due to the low dosage of most drugs involved (benzodiazepines, hypnotics, neuroleptics, anti-histamines), a surreptitious administration into beverages such as coffee, soft drinks (cola) or alcoholic cocktails is relatively simple (1).