SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Ketamine, gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), and Rohypnol are drugs often characterized as “date rape” drugs.
(b) GHB is a central nervous system depressant that was approved for the treatment of narcolepsy. GHB has no color or taste, and is frequently combined with alcohol to commit sexual assault.
(c) Ketamine causes unconsciousness, hallucinations, loss of body control, and numbing. Ketamine works very quickly, so victims drugged with Ketamine only have a few seconds to react before losing consciousness.
(d) Rohypnol, commonly known as flunitrazepam, and sometimes referred to as “roofies,” impairs judgment and leaves victims drugged with Rohypnol physically incapacitated. Memory loss and confusion under the influence of this drug makes victims more vulnerable to rape.
(e) In order to deter the possession of Ketamine, GHB, and Rohypnol by sexual predators and to take steps to prevent the use of these drugs to incapacitate victims for purposes of sexual exploitation, it is necessary and appropriate that an individual who possesses one of these substances for predatory purposes be subject to felony penalties.