Goodnight Cinderella: Roofies in Singapore

What are Roofies?

Rohypnol (more known by its street name “Roofies”) is an incredibly powerful sedative drug that is often used as a date rape drug in current society. Although there are a number of different drugs that can fall under the category of date rape drugs (some others being GHB and Ketamine), the term ‘roofies’ refers to any sort of date rape drug that can be used to sedate unsuspecting victims, often for sexual exploitation. Being roofied is very often associated with drinking alcohol for several reasons. Victims may not be able to realize that they have been roofied if they have been drinking alcohol and are intoxicated at the time the drug is given to them. Most often, if someone wants to give a victim a roofie, they will typically offer to get the victim a drink and slip a drug into it while handing it over. Roofies have become an all too prevalent phenomenon all around the world.

However, could such a malicious drug culture actually exist in the relatively safe social environment of Singapore? As a country with incredibly strict and punishable drug laws, the little red dot is not a location where most people might expect to be roofied. Most residents would argue that it doesn’t occur at all! Unfortunately, they would be wrong.  I could give a list of people who I know personally, or have mutual friends with that have been the unfortunate victim of roofies in Singapore. In a vibrant city such as this, clubs and bars can be found filled with people most nights of the week. Going out does not have to become a traumatic experience, but revelers in the city need to be careful and stay with a friend at all times. The majority of the time, the victims of roofie drugging tend to know the attacker personally. You really can never trust anyone but yourself with your drink, apparently not even your friends and colleagues.

How to prevent being roofied:

1. Don’t accept drinks from others. I can’t stress this one enough: If you don’t know or trust the person handing you a drink, don’t accept it.
2. Don’t share drinks with anyone.
3. Don’t leave your drink unattended and then come back to it.
4. Adopt the buddy system; don’t go out on the town alone.
5. Don’t drink from common beverages

The consequences of this horrible trend can be humiliating, life-scaring, and even deadly. So please take care of yourselves and your friends and let’s all put a stop to this.  In conclusion, I would like to share a poem written by a close friend who was the unfortunate victim of roofies in Singapore:

You made me feel like my body wasn’t my property anymore.

Not that it matters

because I don’t want it anymore.

Who taught you that what you did was acceptable and just “boys being boys”.

You slipped me something,

and her something

and probably 10 other girls something.

You took away my memory for hours.

I couldn’t sleep for days,

couldn’t eat

or drink water.

My anxiety disorder became 10x worse because of you.

Can you comprehend how scary that is?

Nobody deserves this,

and I don’t ever wish it on anyone.

Please stop with rape and roofie jokes.

They aren’t shedding light on the subject,

just normalizing such an awful act.

Such an awful act

that only monsters and heartless beings can do.

Such an awful act

that happens hundreds if not thousands of times per day.