Terry’s concern… I read about a new lip gloss that tells if your drink is spiked with date rape drugs. Is it true?
The Right Brain’s reply:
This product you’re referring to is 2LoveMyLips Lip Gloss. The product itself doesn’t detect drugs, but it comes with a test kit that lets you check your drink to make sure it’s not contaminated with Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a common date rape drug. The idea, according to 2LoveMyLips, is to show that just because women want to look sexy doesn’t mean that they want men to attack them. They offer 5 different colors and flavors, each coming a drink testing kit. But is this just a gimmick or do these kits really work?
Do date rape drug test kits really work?
According to the the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, GHB test kits are effective but the results vary depending on the type of drink. In pure water and many alcoholic beverages, the kits work extremely well. But testing of Cosmopolitan and Margarita samples, for example, gave false negatives. The best way to use the kits, according to this report, is to test your drink along side a control drink that you know if not spiked with the drug. That way the color changing test strips can more effectively discriminate between spiked and unspiked samples. (That may be a bit impractical since you’ll have to buy another drink yourself to tell for sure whether or not the other drink is drugged.) Another issue, according to Jezebel.com, is that while it does work GHB, it’s not effective at detecting other drugs like Rohypnol.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
GHB detection kits do work, when used properly. And cheap, effective drug detection kits could be a great way to protect yourself from date rape. But companies using safety to market their products may be walking a very fine line.
What do you think? Is 2LoveMyLips offering protection or exploitation? Would you buy a product that would help keep you safe like this? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
Source: Can. Soc. Forensic Sci. J. Vol. 40. No 3 (2007) pp. 131–141
Terry’s concern… I read about a new lip gloss that tells if your drink is spiked with date rape drugs. Is it true?
The Right Brain’s reply:
This product you’re referring to is 2LoveMyLips Lip Gloss. The product itself doesn’t detect drugs, but it comes with a test kit that lets you check your drink to make sure it’s not contaminated with Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a common date rape drug. The idea, according to 2LoveMyLips, is to show that just because women want to look sexy doesn’t mean that they want men to attack them. They offer 5 different colors and flavors, each coming a drink testing kit. But is this just a gimmick or do these kits really work?
Do date rape drug test kits really work?
According to the the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, GHB test kits are effective but the results vary depending on the type of drink. In pure water and many alcoholic beverages, the kits work extremely well. But testing of Cosmopolitan and Margarita samples, for example, gave false negatives. The best way to use the kits, according to this report, is to test your drink along side a control drink that you know if not spiked with the drug. That way the color changing test strips can more effectively discriminate between spiked and unspiked samples. (That may be a bit impractical since you’ll have to buy another drink yourself to tell for sure whether or not the other drink is drugged.) Another issue, according to Jezebel.com, is that while it does work GHB, it’s not effective at detecting other drugs like Rohypnol.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
GHB detection kits do work, when used properly. And cheap, effective drug detection kits could be a great way to protect yourself from date rape. But companies using safety to market their products may be walking a very fine line.
What do you think? Is 2LoveMyLips offering protection or exploitation? Would you buy a product that would help keep you safe like this? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.