There is a new tool that women can take with them when going outthat tests for a “date rape” drug.

This is a chemically treated coaster to place the drink on thatdetects the presence of the date rape drugs Rohypnol, GHB and Kitamine. Drugs such as these have no taste or odor and have been usedto knock out women, making them vulnerable to sexual attack withoutany memory of it later.

Students at San Jose State University in California are amongthe first in the nation to use these coasters, which contain testspots that chemically react and change color when these drugs areput in their drink.

These coasters can be ordered for 40 cents apiece in quantitiesof 125 or more from the manufacturer Drunk Safe TechnologyPlantation, Fla.

Even though Simpson College is a small campus, there is reasonfor concern for these types of incidents. According to ChrisFrerichs, Director of Security at Simpson College, there has been a”suspicious incident” that was thought to involve the date rapedrug Rohypnol, but was not verified because the time frame for thetesting of this drug in the bloodstream had passed.

That is why it is extremely important to get the incidentreported as soon as possible. Rohypnol can be detected in the bloodfor 24 hours and in the urine for 48 hours.

According to Frerichs, Simpson has an obligation to the studentsand victims to pursue any and all of these incidents. Frerichs saidif you are at a function or party and you start to feel funny,” youmust tell a friend, take whatever container you were drinking fromand leave immediately.

He recommends that you call campus security immediately.Security knows the correct procedure for handling such situationsand they work closely with the Indianola Police Department, whoalso have training programs that address this issue.

Simpson College is on par with bigger universities in thepercentage of sexual assaults. That is why it is so important toraise awareness of the problem.

Simpson has a number of passive and direct procedures to addressthis issue.

According to Jim Thorius, vice president for student developmentand dean of students, “Raising awareness and having peopleconscious of the problem is the first step to their wellbeing.”