Anyone else ever heard of these?
New coasters to detect date-rape drugs
by Erica Bush
Staff Writer
Ohio University students and Athens residents will still have to think twice about leaving their drinks unattended. The technology for new coasters that claim to detect the presence of date-rape drugs is not likely to be used locally anytime soon.
The coasters, distributed by Drink Safe Technologies, Inc., contain two test spots with a color indicator designed to chemically change to deep blue when someone puts a drop of a drug-tainted drink on them, said inventor Francisco Gerra.
If a drug is present, the test spot will change within one minute, turning blue no matter what type of date-rape drug is used, he said. GHB and Ketamine are among the drugs detected by the coaster.
More than 50 million coasters have been sold to universities and bars in the four months they have been on the market, Gerra said.
But OU is not likely to be among the colleges purchasing coasters.
The university became aware of the coasters this summer and started to research them, said Charlene Kopchick, director of health education and wellness.
An investigation, including a call to the Michigan State Police Crime
Lab that provided evidence that the coasters are ineffective, has left OU doubtful of the coasters' usefulness and unwilling to support the distribution of them to students, she said.
"There is just not enough evidence to conclude these coasters will work,"
Kopchick said.
OU officials are skeptical about distributing the coasters for several reasons. First, a dentist invented them - not a forensic scientist. Also, the coasters might not work for dark-colored drinks. Furthermore, the coasters cannot differentiate between street drugs and date-rape drugs. In some cases, they might take a half-hour to detect the presence of certain drugs, she said.
"If we were to distribute them and they did not work, it might give people a false sense of security," Kopchick said.
Despite evidence from the Michigan State Police Crime Lab contradicting the coasters' effectiveness, Gerra said he stands by his product.
He believes the coasters work, and those who say they do not, have never performed a test on them or have performed a test using a weaker concentration of a solution than that needed to detect date-rape drugs.
"I challenge anyone to take a coaster to a forensic lab and test it out,"
Gerra said.
Whether or not these coasters work, local bars were not aware of the new product and, like the university, have no plans of distributing them.
Jim Prouty, owner of O'Hooley's Irish Pub, 24 W. Union St., said he has not heard about these coasters and probably would not look into using them any time soon.
In the 21 years he has been working there, date-rape drugs are not something that he has seen a problem with, Prouty said.
It also has not been a concern for employees of Casa Cantina, 4 W. State St., who are unaware of the coasters.
"I have heard of (drugs being slipped into drinks) being a problem for other bars, but not here," said bar manager Sean Collins.
It might be a consideration to carry these coasters in the future as a preventative measure if they become more convenient and are proven to work, Collins said.
The Pub, 39 N. Court St., also will remain among the bars unchanged by the new technology.
The Pub's manager Dennis Shaffer said there is no need for the coasters.
"We always hope most people have friends with them when they drink, and that those friends encourage them not to leave their drinks unattended," he said.
Unmarked coasters are 40 cents each and sold in quantities of 125
Custom-labeled coasters are 45 cents each and sold in quantities of 10,000
For purchasing information see the Drink Safe Technologies, Inc. Web site (
http://www.drinksafetech.com) or call 1-888-707-SAFE.
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