Women unknowingly addicted to GHB can’t take it anymore: they believe that the date rape drug is too prevalent in bars and they no longer feel safe there. The National Assembly recognized such poisonings as a “scourge” in a motion passed unanimously on Wednesday.

In a bar on rue Saint-Denis, Sandrine Pelletier felt her body soften and she collapsed, asleep, in a toilet cubicle last January. The 19-year-old has no recollection of that part of the evening. Her friend told her.

Sandrine Pelletier is convinced that she was drugged with GHB against her will. “I’ve told several friends about it and they’ve all said ‘it happened to me too.’ I didn’t know it was that bad,” said one who contacted La Presse, because she is discouraged that the date rape drug problem is so trivialized.

Her friend Léa Tanguay also believes she was intoxicated with GHB in a bar on rue Beaubien Est a year ago. Her friends saw to her safety and escorted her home, but she still has a bitter taste from the evening.

” I am exhausted. I don’t feel safe doing activities that are normal, that I am allowed to do. It’s annoying to always have to look after our backs, to always have to watch our friends. We are always in a situation of vigilance because we never know when it will happen and if it does, it can be super dangerous, “says the young woman of 20 years.

Sandrine Pelletier and Léa Tanguay are convinced that they were drugged, but they will never be sure. They did not take a screening test as soon as they regained consciousness. However, GHB remains barely six hours in the blood and 10 to 12 hours in the urine.

“In English, we say quick in, quick off, which means the effects start very quickly, in about 20 minutes, they last a few hours, and then the drug disappears fairly quickly,” says Dr. Martin Laliberté, of the McGill University Health Center. The date rape drug creates a state of drowsiness, euphoria, loss of consciousness and memory.

On Wednesday, MP André A. Morin, from Acadie, tabled a motion asking the National Assembly “to take note that poisoning with GHB, also known as the date rape drug, is a scourge that threatens security. of Quebecers”. The motion, passed unanimously by MPs, recalls that it is difficult to accurately assess the extent of the problem due to the “short period of time during which this drug can be detected”.

Dr. Martin Laliberté, emergency physician and toxicologist, also speaks of GHB as a “very present problem” and a “very common drug in bars”. The liquid, colorless and odorless substance goes unnoticed in alcoholic consumption.

Dr. Laliberté says, however, that emergency physicians have reservations about testing for GHB because of the drug’s short shelf life and the particularly complex tests to be performed. Only two laboratories in Quebec have the specialists and equipment required to detect GHB.

Also, emergency physicians prescribe analytical tests when the results are likely to influence the treatment of the patient, he says, which is not the case with GHB.

The Regroupement québécois des centers d’aide et de Lutte contre les aggresses sxuellement also speaks of a “collective responsibility”. The government could set up a “service corridor” for victims to be tested as quickly as possible, suggests Justine Chénier, the agency’s communications manager. Bars and restaurants could better train their staff to detect GHB and to support victims, she adds.

“When someone pours GHB into a drink, there are often witnesses. When we talk about prevention and awareness, it is the idea of ​​making witnesses active and positive. It’s the idea of ​​mobilizing when you witness this act, ”explains Ms. Chénier. The last awareness campaign about GHB, however, dates back several years, she says.

“The responsibility should not rest solely with women,” adds Ms. Chénier. In 2023, a woman should be able to go out to a restaurant or a bar without fear of being poisoned with GHB. »

Following a report by La Presse which reported that singer Ariane Brunet, alias L’Isle, had not been able to get tested at Verdun hospital, the deputies of the National Assembly adopted at the unanimously passed a motion for the tests to be offered in all hospitals in Quebec, last June1. The new motion adopted on Wednesday also asks the Coalition avenir Québec to assess the possibility of extending this offer to pharmacies.

“We are overly sensitive to the situations that people who are suspected of having been drugged may experience. We are talking about a feeling of helplessness and incomprehension,” said Antoine de la Durantaye, press secretary to the Minister of Health. “In addition to these samples, it is also important to remember that there are currently 89 designated centers in Quebec to perform more advanced forensic interventions,” he wrote. In Montreal, three establishments treat victims of GHB intoxication and sexual assault: the Montreal General Hospital, Notre-Dame Hospital and the CLSC Métro.

The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) encourages people who believe they have been drugged to file a complaint with the police. “If anyone believes they have experienced or witnessed such poisoning, whether or not they know the person responsible, they should call 911 immediately.”

“GHB is quickly metabolized and eliminated from the body, it is impossible to find any trace of it unless a toxicological sample is taken quickly. Unfortunately, too often we are notified too late or not at all,” explains the SPVM by email.