Ko drops

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As knockout drops (also: knock-out means , knockout drops , date-rape -Drug or rape drugs ) are narcotic called acting substances in the context of crimes such as sexual and / or property crimes used to numb the victims and make them defenseless. They are administered to victims unnoticed or in secretly excessive doses. To do this, they are mostly mixed into drinks, sometimes also into food. After waking up, the victims can often no longer remember the act or the course of events due to memory gaps for the time it was effective. This often makes it difficult for the victims to prove the crime under criminal law.

The actual extent of the use of such agents - especially in relation to alcohol - is critically questioned.

Active ingredients

Injection vial with ketamine

The term knockout drops is a colloquial and unspecific term that, contrary to widespread perception, is not only associated with one, but with a large number of substances that, depending on the context of application, also have completely different and desired effects. Many of these substances are normally used therapeutically as sleeping pills or sedatives or as a party drug , so they only become knockout drops through secrecy and often only through overdosing.

Examples include benzodiazepines such as flunitrazepam and temazepam , antihistamines , γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB, Liquid Ecstasy) and its intramolecular ester γ-butyrolactone (GBL), ketamine , anticholinergic drugs , such as scopolamine (hyoscine) and atropine , 1,4-butanediol or neuroleptics , such as Haloperidol , which was used, for example, in the famous case around the Donisl restaurant in Munich in the 1980s . In the past, chloral hydrate , barbiturate and methylprylon were also called. In total, well over 100 active ingredients can be misused as "knockout agents".

In terms of safety, especially barbiturates as well as GBL and GHB are life-threatening in the event of an overdose, as there is a risk of respiratory failure. Potential perpetrators are thus faced with the "challenge" of precisely dosing an attack taking into account the victim's condition, since the effects desired by voluntary users such as urge to move and euphoria predominate in lower doses, especially with GBL and GHB, but with overdosing respiratory arrest and death predominate threaten, especially in connection with alcohol.

In particular, ketamine and GBL are often consumed voluntarily as a party drug in the very environment in which they are allegedly abused as a rape drug , namely in clubs and discos, as they have a relaxing or euphoric rather than drowsy effect in lower doses . The classification of a substance as a knockout drop is therefore only appropriate if these agents are administered secretly or in a secretly higher dose. The taz commented that the problem was “the secrecy, the assault and the rapist - and not the material”.

In a figurative sense, alcohol or alcoholic beverages can also be referred to as "knockout drops", since deliberately making other people drunk with the aim of sexual advances is a widespread practice, for example by inviting or encouraging them to consume alcoholic beverages, Also known colloquially as "filling someone up". In contrast to "classic" substances known as knockout drops , alcohol is generally not administered clandestinely and is not added as drops, but rather consumed in larger quantities. A publication from the University of Ulster describes alcohol as the most widely used date rape drug. A study carried out in Great Britain and published in 2006 found that alcohol was at least involved in over 99% of the suspected cases examined ( see below for distribution).

Prominent cases

15-year-old American Samantha Reid died in 1999 after being drugged with GHB by several men. Because of this case, GHB was classified as a Schedule I drug in the United States.

The Californian millionaire heir Andrew Luster was sentenced to 124 years in prison (later reduced to 50 years) for 86 rape cases; he had anesthetized his victims with knockout drops.

After a four-year trial, the operator of several Düsseldorf brothels was sentenced to 8 years in prison for extortion, fraud and bodily harm in 2017; In the establishments, guests had been made willless with knockout drops in order to be able to debit such large sums of credit cards.

Dissemination and Discourse

In fact, there are cases in which various of the substances mentioned were administered in the actual sense, i.e. in particular secretly, as so-called knockout drops. Various studies, however, raise the suspicion that the extent of such incidents may be far lower than the public perception. A study carried out in Great Britain and published in 2006, for which 120 suspected cases of suspected knockout drops were examined, came to the result that in 91.7% of the suspected cases a use of substances in the sense of a use as K .-o.-drops could not be detected. However, it could be proven that 119 of the 120 alleged victims had drunk alcohol (99.2%), in 22 cases an alcohol content of at least 200 mg% was found in the blood (18.3%). Cannabis (20%) and cocaine (17%) were the most frequently measured illegal drugs, in two cases GHB was involved (1.7%). Overall, the investigators came to the conclusion that in ten out of 120 suspected cases (8.3%) the victim was demonstrably administered a narcotic substance secretly, in a further eleven cases (9.2%) the suspicion could neither be confirmed nor dispelled.

In a 2009 study published by the British Journal of Criminology , the widespread use of knockout drops was called modern day saga . According to the study, the police have no evidence that substances in the sense of knockout drops are regularly used in rape. In most cases, it is preceded by excessive alcohol consumption. A publication from the University of Ulster describes alcohol as the most widely used date rape drug. In 2008, an Australian study found that none of the 97 patients who had been treated in a Perth hospital for alleged use of substances in the sense of knockout drops over a period of 19 months were actually exposed to them had been. Between 1995 and 1998 a total of 92 cases were registered at the Munich Institute for Forensic Medicine, in which there was a suspicion of administration of substances in the sense of knockout drops. The most common follow-up offense here was not rape (13% of cases), but robbery (47.8%). According to a study in Deutsches Ärzteblatt , the cases examined are often taken voluntarily; In Great Britain, in the years 2000 to 2002, involuntary ingestion of such substances in the sense of knockout drops was detected in only 21 out of 1014 cases.

On the other hand, the police, doctors and the organization Weißer Ring assume a high number of unreported cases . The reasons include the shame of many victims, the secrecy of the act and the lack of memories of the victims. Some people do not expect knockout drops as the cause of their symptoms because they suspect that alcohol consumption is responsible.

Another problem is that many substances presumably used as knockout drops are broken down very quickly in the body and a possible act can therefore often no longer be proven, but also no counter-evidence can be provided. Often there is therefore a statement against a statement. A prominent example is the case of the Swiss Cantonal Councilor Jolanda Spiess-Hegglin , who apparently got closer to political opponent Markus Hürlimann while under the influence of alcohol during a Landammann celebration on December 20, 2014. In retrospect, a legal dispute was fought in public, including widespread media coverage of the question of whether a substance was possibly administered secretly, i.e. in the sense of knockout drops, or whether too much alcohol was drunk.

Although numerous other substances are used as knockout drops, GBL came back into focus at the end of 2016 through a series of media reports. It was publicly discussed whether this substance should be denatured with bitter substances during regular production as an industrial chemical , which should make it possible for potential victims to recognize the taste of the substance, but also to make the substance inedible as a voluntarily consumed "party drug". The News Enlightenment Initiative named the legal availability of GBL one of the most neglected news of the year in 2016.

Victim support organizations such as the White Ring and various women’s emergency services see prevention as an effective measure to protect victims due to the detection problems that arise with several commonly used substances . In 2017, for example, actor Tom Wlaschiha warned in a video about the dangers of substances secretly mixed in drinks.

Analytics

Some of the substances presumably used as knockout drops can only be detected in the body of the person concerned within 6–12 hours, so that a doctor should be consulted in good time if there is any suspicion. If this is not possible in the specified time frame, victim counseling centers recommend taking a urine sample yourself, recording the time and keeping the sample refrigerated. A sample taken in this way may have It may not have any legal evidential value, but it can provide the alleged victim with certainty.

For reliable determination in body fluids or asserviertem material chromatographic methods are used. Coupling methods such as. B. the GC-MS or the HPLC-MS , for example with the suspected use of ketamine.

A blood sample should be at least 2 ml, better 10 ml, without added citrate. A urine sample should be about 100 ml.

Legal position

The secret administration of poisons and other harmful substances is a criminal offense in Germany and, taken in itself, constitutes dangerous bodily harm according to §§ 223 , 224 I No. 1 and possibly No. 3 StGB . If the substances in the sense of knockout drops are administered to the victim against his will in order to be able to carry out sexual acts, it is an use of force in the sense of § 177 StGB ( sexual coercion ), the perpetrator makes himself into one Such a case of sexual coercion is punishable under Section 177 (5) No. 1 and (7) No. 2 (up to 2016, Paragraph 1 No. 1 and Paragraph 3 No. 2) of the Criminal Code. If he then rapes the victim, this is punishable under Section 177 Paragraph 6 No. 1 (until 2016 Paragraph 2 No. 1) of the Criminal Code. If the victim agrees to the ingestion of a substance, but does not know about the sexual intentions of the perpetrator, the act is punishable as sexual assault according to Section 177 (2) No. 1 and possibly as rape according to Section 6 No. 1 of the Criminal Code (until 2016 according to § 179 StGB as sexual abuse of incapable persons ). If the dosage is life-threatening for the victim, Section 177 (8) No. 2 b (up to 2016 Section 177 (4) No. 2 b) of the Criminal Code shall apply.

If the perpetrator secretly gives the victim a substance in the sense of knockout drops in order to be able to steal things, there is grave robbery with the provision of a means to prevent or overcome resistance, which according to § 250 paragraph 1 No. 1 b StGB is punishable. If the dosage is life-threatening for the victim, Section 250 Paragraph 2 No. 3b of the Criminal Code is to be applied. Unauthorized possession, e.g. B. von GHB, also establishes a criminal liability under the Narcotics Act (BtMG) .

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: knockout drops  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Footnotes

  1. ^ A b Günter Jeromin: Organic chemistry. 2nd Edition. Harri Deutsch Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-8171-1732-9 , p. 462.
  2. ↑ a b c Gisela Zimmer: Exam preparation for forensic medicine. 2nd Edition. Georg Thieme Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-13-141172-3 , p. 56.
  3. ↑ Jessica A. Albright, Sarah A. Stevens, Douglas J. Beussman: Detecting ketamine in beverage residues: Application in date rape detection. In: Drug Testing and Analysis . Vol. 4, No. 5, May 2012, pp. 337-341, doi: 10.1002 / dta.335 . PMID 22114065 .
  4. ^ A b c Burkhard Madea, Frank Mußhoff: Knockout means: frequency, mode of action, securing evidence . In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt . Volume 106, issue 20, May 15, 2009, pp. 341–347, doi: 10.3238 / arztebl.2009.0341
  5. ↑ Swiss Parliament: Motion - 09.3945, Legal highs: Ban on dangerous but legal narcotics of September 25, 2009 .
  6. ↑ Information for professionals: GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) - mixed consumption. on: drogenkult.net
  7. ↑ Half- furrow types. In: Der Spiegel. 6/1985.
  8. ↑ Wolfgang Arnold, Hans-Friedrich Grützmacher: The clarification of the Noludarzwischenfallfalls in the Hamburg harbor district (St. Pauli) with the help of combined analysis methods. In: German journal for all forensic medicine. Vol. 65, Heft 1, 1969, pp. 44-60, doi: 10.1007 / BF00584846 ( PDF; 663 kB ).
  9. ↑ KO funds / KO drops Forensic-Toxicological Laboratory Vienna, accessed on July 27, 2019.
  10. ↑ Julia Seeliger: 2C-B and GBL. January 3, 2012, accessed September 29, 2015.
  11. ↑ Claus Peter Müller: The biggest knockout drop is alcohol. February 19, 2013, accessed September 29, 2015.
  12. ↑ medicalnewstoday.com: Alcohol Is Most Common "Date Rape" Drug. October 15, 2007, accessed October 12, 2015.
  13. ↑ Keith Bradsher: Four Get Prison Time in Death Of Girl From Date Rape Drug . In: The New York Times . March 31, 2000, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed May 1, 2019]).
  14. ↑ Max Factor heir's rape sentence reduced from 124 years to 50 . In: Los Angeles Times . April 16, 2013, ISSN  0458-3035 ( latimes.com [accessed May 1, 2019]).
  15. ↑ Aachener Nachrichten: Düsseldorf: "Freshly made with coke": Long prison sentences in the red light scandal. Accessed May 1, 2019 .
  16. ↑ D. Gee, P. Owen, L. Mclean et al.: Operation MATISSE: investigating drug facilitated sexual assault . Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), London 2006; Police claim many "drugged" date-rape victims simply drunk . In: Evening Standard. November 15, 2006, accessed October 8, 2015.
  17. ↑ 'No evidence to suggest widespread date rape drug use' 24housing.co.uk, November 16, 2006.
  18. ↑ a b Stephen Adams: Date-rape drink spiking "an urban legend". In: The Daily Telegraph . October 27, 2009, accessed January 16, 2010 .
  19. ↑ medicalnewstoday.com: Alcohol Is Most Common "Date Rape" Drug , published October 15, 2007, accessed October 12, 2015.
  20. ↑ a b Why knockout drops are so dangerous and how you can protect yourself suedkurier.de, November 7, 2018.
  21. ↑ a b What exactly happens when you have knockout drops in your drink? Three people tell bento.de, June 1, 2018.
  22. ↑ a b knockout drops - The Danger in Nightlife ndr.de, August 27, 2016.
  23. ↑ Daniela Gigor: Spiess-Hegglin gives up fight in sex scandal , published on: September 7th, 2015, accessed on October 6th, 2015.
  24. ↑ Neue Luzerner Zeitung: Spiess Endless Case , published on: September 23, 2015, accessed on October 6, 2015.
  25. ↑ Blick.ch: Hürlimann shows Spiess-Hegglin ( memento from November 13, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) , published on: April 12, 2015.
  26. ↑ Diana Sierpinski: GBL - this substance should not be legal. n-tv, December 7, 2016, accessed February 16, 2017 .
  27. ↑ Lea Thies: knockout drops: drugged - and raped? Augsburger Allgemeine, January 29, 2017, accessed February 16, 2017 .
  28. ↑ 2016: Top 3 - KO drops: Free delivery and completely legal. In: Initiative news clearance . Retrieved on October 13, 2019 (German).
  29. ↑ KO drops | EMERGENCY CALL for rape women and girls. Accessed on July 27, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Celebrate safely - Frauennotruf Mainz warns of knockout drops at the Mainz summer lights | Frauennotruf Mainz, specialist center on the topic of sexual violence. Retrieved July 27, 2017 .
  31. ↑ Knockout drops | WHITE RING e. V. Accessed July 27, 2017 .
  32. ↑ WHITE RING: "Don't let yourself be knocked out !" - Tom Wlaschiha for the WHITE RING. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017 .
  33. ↑ LARA Crisis and Advice Center for Raped and Sexually Harassed Women: 8 Tips for Immediate Aid . accessed on October 6, 2015.
  34. ↑ a b Drogenhilfe Köln gGmbH: Verifiability . accessed on October 8, 2015.
  35. ↑ Piotr Adamowicz, Maria Kała: Simultaneous screening for and determination of 128 date-rape drugs in urine by gas chromatography-electron ionization-mass spectrometry. In: Forensic Science International. Vol. 198, No. 1, May 20, 2010, pp. 39-45, doi: 10.1016 / j.forsciint.2010.02.012 . PMID 20207513
  36. ↑ BGH : Decision of January 27, 2009 - 4 StR 473/08 = NStZ 2009, 505, 506.
  37. ↑ a b BGH 3 StR 359/03 ; Thomas Fischer : Commentary on the Criminal Code. 55th edition. Section 177 Rn. 7th
  38. ^ Federal Court of Justice , decision of February 23, 2010, 1 StR 652/09
  39. ↑ Thomas Fischer : Commentary on the Criminal Code. 55th edition. Section 177 Rn. 7th
  40. ↑ BGH : Decision of January 27, 2009 - 4 StR 473/08 = NStZ 2009, 505, 506.
  41. ↑ § 29 BtMG in conjunction with Appendix III to the BtMG.