Over-the-counter tests to determine if someone slipped a mickey into your cocktail are not to be trusted, say researchers from Liverpool John Moores University. For example, one kit they tested gave a false positive for the presence of downers in drinks more than 25 percent of the time. From The Independent:
Each kit was tested 10 times for each drink and drug or placebo combination. The results show that with one of the kits, a drug was correctly detected in only 69 per cent of tests. Researchers also found that the sensitivity of the kits was affected by the type of drink in which they were tested. The ability of one kit to identify the presence of drugs in beer was poor, with a sensitivity of 37 per cent…
The report says it is important drink spiking be put in context: "The most comprehensive UK-based study reported that only 21 of the 1,014 alleged drug-facilitated sexual assault cases were attributed to involuntary ingestion of a drug." This included three cases where the drug was ecstasy, which reduces inhibition, but does not induce sedation.
Link (Thanks, Dale Dougherty!)
