BARS NEED TO GUARD AGAINST DATE-RAPE DRUGS: WOMEN'S CENTRE

by James Keller

Halifax bars and nightclubs should be doing more to educate patrons about the dangers of date-rape drugs, says the director of the Dalhousie University Women's Centre.

“I think the idea of date-rape education in bars would be a great thing,” says Jess Abramson, director of the centre. “I haven't seen much response in making bars safer spaces for women. I think it's typical.”

But managers at city bars claim that so-called date-rape drugs like Rohypnol — which can leave victims unconscious with little memory of an assault — are not a problem.

Some of the most popular Halifax nightclubs have no prevention or education programs.

“We don't have anything in place, and I'm hoping I don't have that kind of crowd,” says George Eleftheros, manager of Pacifico Bar and Grill on Barrington Street .

He has never heard of a case of date-rape drugs being used in his bar since he started working there 11 years ago.

“The university bars would want to have it, but to be honest, you don't see it around the night(club) business,” he says.

Abramson says she has already seen victims of date-rape drugs come to the women's centre since she became the director four months ago. And she rejects the idea that it should only be an issue on university campuses.

“It happens (in off-campus bars),” says Abramson, though she could not cite statistics. “I've talked to people that have experienced it, and unfortunately a lot of students go to those bars.”

Halifax Regional Police could not be reached for comment, but have said in the past that they do not know exactly how many people are assaulted after their drinks are spiked. Victims of date-rape drugs often don't report the incidents.

Neither the Oasis Bar and Grill on Spring Garden Road nor Club Vortex on Gottingen Street have any education or prevention programs in place, said managers of both bars.

Saint Mary's University distributed date-rape prevention coasters to first-year students in 2002. If bar patrons splash their drink on a test spot on the coaster, it will detect the presence of some common date-rape drugs.

“It was more or less an awareness campaign, not a long and continuous program,” says Donnie Jeffrey, a counselor with Saint Mary's student services and coordinator of the university's alcohol-awareness program.

The coasters were never intended to provide a sure-fire way to prevent date-rape, he says.

“I think in terms of raising discussion, it was successful.”

Club Vortex, a gay bar on Gottingen Street that has been open for less than a year, has already had a case involving a date-rape drug.

“There was an incident where a (male) person was involved with a date-rape drug, but by the time it took effect, his friends had taken him out (of the bar),” says Chuck Hsuen, the bar's events and promotions manager.

An education and prevention program might be on the horizon, Hsuen says.

“We've tried to re-brand the bar, and (date-rape drugs) are something new. Now that you mention it, it might be something that we'll look at.”

Abramson hopes more bars will take the issue seriously and raise awareness of both men and women enjoying a drink. She says bar owners should set up more initiatives like the coasters at Saint Mary's.