date-rape drug

a common colloquial term for a drug that is surreptitiously administered to impair consciousness or memory for the purpose of sexual exploitation of the victim. Such drugs are typically introduced into alcoholic beverages in social settings. Date-rape drugs include barbiturates, high-potency benzodiazepines (flunitrazepam, triazolam), ketamine, and the illicit substance GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate). The most common slang for these drugs is roofies, from Rohypnol, the trade name for flunitrazepam. The U.S. Congress passed the Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act in 1996, making it a federal crime to give an unaware person a controlled substance with the intent of committing violence against him or her.

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Psychology term of the day

February 23rd 2025

inbreeding

n. the mating of individuals that are closely related. Inbreeding increases the risk of perpetuating certain genetic defects in the family, as in consanguineous marriages. Inbreeding within small populations, such as geographically isolated populations, leads to increased frequency of particular mutations within such groups. This fact has been used to demonstrate the founder effect for certain cancers and other disorders. Inbreeding studies have contributed to efforts to identify and test for mutations predisposing to disease in some groups of people. Compare outbreeding.