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.