Gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, is a powerful sedative used in Europe for decades as a sleep aid and anesthetic during childbirth before it became widely used as a convenient and powerful date rape aid.
That use has become disconcertingly common, at least according to date rate victims, their advocates, state and local law enforcement agencies, and U.S. Department of Justice.
Kidd Kraddick, however, is not so sure. During his show Monday morning, the DFW-based radio personality spent several minutes offering expert testimony on the "new epidemic that's sweeping America: It's the 'Women who say they've been roofied' epidemic."
"Hah-hah," chortled his sidekick, Big Al.
"You're hearing it a lot now," Kraddick continued. "Kelly, how many timed have you been roofied?"
"Seventeen," said Kelly, his female sidekick.
Kraddick marveled at the number and offered an alternative explanation: "A lot of times women get really drunk and are like 'Ah! I got roofied!'"
Another woman in the studio related her own recent roofie experience, her first. She was on vacation, only had a couple of drinks, then suddenly became very ill. She took a cab home and sat with her roommate in the bathroom for several hours, vomiting.
"That's a failed roofie. If you remember everything, that's a bad roofie," Kraddick told her, finally seeming to get to his real area of expertise. Roofies don't make you violently ill, he told her. "I'm not putting you on trial for the roofie thing, I'm just asking. ... I mean, the point of a roofie is for a guy to take advantage of a girl."
That may happen sometimes, Kraddick conceded, but not very often.
"It is a very dangerous drug and it is a felony to drop it in someone's drink, but you talk to girl's your age and there's just a whole army of guys running around just roofie-ing girls. They're not getting drunk on their own, getting sick, they're getting roofed left and right."
"Every girl has a roofie story," Big Al agreed.
The real tragedy, the real victims, if you will, are the law-abiding males out there just looking for a good time.
"Here's why I get mad about it," Kraddick said. "It's because normal guys are suspect. ... It is hard enough for guys to meet girls without them throwing around these stories, and every strange guy is a candidate to drop something in your drink. It doesn't happen very often at all. Almost never."
Then, Kraddick's coup de grace: "I would love to have a built in excuse every time I got so wasted I don't remember anything."
I didn't hear the original broadcast -- how Kraddick escaped my presets is a mystery never to be solved -- but the Dallas Area Rape Crisis center did. They were not amused, as they made clear in an email to supporters:
The discussion on Kidd Craddick this morning regarding "roofies" was terribly irresponsible, disturbing, contributes to rape myths and the culture in which we don't believe victims, andadds to the barriers victims face regarding reporting being drugged and reporting sexual assault.Kidd and his crew spout about how community involved and supportive and helpful they are (Kidd's Kids, etc.) and then this kind of ignorant information is put out for the community to hear. Having a daughter in college, Kidd should do his homework on this. This happens often,especially on college campuses. "An excuse for a one night stand." "Regrettable mistakes." "Hard enough for guys to meet girls," According to a study by the National Institute of Justice, out of 20 million women who have been raped in the United States, nearly 3 million have experienced drug-facilitated rape. Only 16 per cent of rapes were reported to law enforcement because of myths as discussed onthe Kidd Kraddick in the Morningradio program.
They encourage anyone who is so inclined to call the Kidd Kraddick show (1-800-543-3548) or visit his Facebook page to let their feelings be known. Also, just in case you missed it or want to hear it again, you can check out Kraddick's podcast. Just jump to about the 24:45 mark.
