High School Girls Invent An Ingenious Straw That Detects Date Rape Drugs
Date rape is a very serious modern age issue, and three high school students hope to prevent it with a (seemingly) simple solution – a straw!
Victoria Roca, Susana Cappello, and Carolina Baigorri are all students of Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami, Florida. The girls created a one-of-a-kind straw during an entrepreneurship class they all took. They designed it to have two different strips that, when placed into a drink, will reveal if its contents are drugged or safe to consume.
“Being young women, I feel like this is a problem that we hear about a lot, especially when we came to high school,” Baigorri told Inside Edition. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, date rapes are among the higher number of rape cases. Date rape usually takes place among college students, under the symptoms of alcohol or drugs consumption that makes the abuse more accessible. One of the most targeted groups are women between the ages of 16 to 24.
The innovative straw is able to detect traces of the most popular forms of date rape drugs, including roofies (Rohypnol), gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), and ketamine (Special K). They also want to make the straws eco-friendly.
A patent for the straw, allowing the girls to market and sell their product, is currently in the works, and to fund the venture, the team proposed a crowd-funding campaign.
“We know it’s not a solution because it can’t end rape, but we were hoping to lower the amount of rape and dangerous situations you might be in through drugs,” Baigorri said.
(h/t: 22words)
Students Victoria Roca, Susana Cappello, and Carolina Baigorri are fighting date rape
And they’re using a straw as a weapon against it
The trio have invented a straw to detect traces of the most popular forms of date rape drugs, used to dope victims
The end of the straw turns blue if it’s exposed to roofies (Rohypnol), gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), or ketamine (Special K)
“It can’t end rape, but we were hoping to lower the amount of rape and dangerous situations you might be in through drugs,” Baigorri said
Watch the video presentation of their ingenious straw below
This is the kind of stuff that should be funded by the government right away. Date rape can only takes a few hours, but can and sometimes will mentally last for the rest of one's lifetime.
Not sure why you think it's some rare occurrence Andrew!!!!
Load More Replies...I got lucky one night and had a friend with me when someone drugged me. These girls are smart! Keep thinking of great ideas ladies!
Me too, was with a male friend and a gf at a bar and I got roofied.. I'd hate to imagine what could have occurred had the circumstances been different!
Load More Replies...This is awesome. I hope this actually gets out there. A few years ago a group claimed they had made something similar and thousands of people kickstarted it (including me) and nothing ever came of it. It was extremely disappointing, not because i "lost" money, but because products like this really need to be available.
This really upsets me. I never heard heard about date rape until I read this article and I am just asking myself "Why? Why do people use date rape drugs and date rape all in general?". I am happy that I now know of that problem and that someone is trying to fight it :)
My BS meter pegged and got bent. I have one of those "garbage pit" memories... everything goes and and never get's collected or destroyed. Well, I thought this sounded awfully familiar... and I was right. As an inventor/entrepreneur (a bit over 100 US patents and climbing), it makes me mad to see someone claim to be the inventor of something when they are not. These very privileged girls (who probably don't know much actual chemistry) have pulled the inventor's equivilant to plagarism: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1417-disposable-dipper-to-detect-date-rape-drug-is-launched/
The nail polish thing is impractical - you have to stick your germy fingers in your drink. (Also, not everyone wears nail polish!) A straw makes so much more sense.
Pretty sure someone already invented it. http://bust.com/general/10279-man-invents-straws-and-cups-that-detect-date-rape-drugs.html
http://bust.com/general/10279-man-invents-straws-and-cups-that-detect-date-rape-drugs.html
It's very sad to me that high school students need to be vigilant about these things. :(
omg - they have made a difference in the lives of so many re: prevention & we will never know the colossal extent to which they have made a difference. This goes beyond (!!) impressive - this is related to 'life-changing' events for the worse for so many - & thanks to these girls, the numbers of attacked girls will decrease. Novel approach as well ...
I was hoping they came out with something like this. Because date rape is so ridiculous nowadays.
A group of students of North Carolina State University, Ankesh Madan, Tyler Confrey-Maloney, Stephen Grey and Tasso Von Windheim, have created a drug-sensitive nail polish called Undercover Colors. The product changes color when it comes in contact with some of the more popular date-rape drugs. GHB, Rohypnol or Xanax will cause the chemical change indicating there is something extra is in the drink, though it may not be sensitive to other drugs or chemicals. They have been looking for potential investors, but have over $100,000 from both an interested investor and money they won from a competition. There are other date-rape drug identifying supplies, including drug-sensitive coasters, and cups and straws that change colors. The coasters are available for purchase at $5 USD each while the cups and straws should be available within the next year.
https://www.psfk.com/2014/09/date-rape-drugs-nail-polish-detector.html
That's amazing! Are they going to be out on the market? I'd like to see these at a local supermarket and everywhere else.
Back in 2014 there was another invention which was a kind of nail polish that did the same thing tho. It's good that they invent these things but it's basically the same thing that already existed/in the making. The nail polish called "Undercover Colors" is actually set to be launched this year after $5,5M of investments.
What an awful thing to say. You sound like part of the reason this needed to be an invention. Go home and stay there
Load More Replies...This is the kind of stuff that should be funded by the government right away. Date rape can only takes a few hours, but can and sometimes will mentally last for the rest of one's lifetime.
Not sure why you think it's some rare occurrence Andrew!!!!
Load More Replies...I got lucky one night and had a friend with me when someone drugged me. These girls are smart! Keep thinking of great ideas ladies!
Me too, was with a male friend and a gf at a bar and I got roofied.. I'd hate to imagine what could have occurred had the circumstances been different!
Load More Replies...This is awesome. I hope this actually gets out there. A few years ago a group claimed they had made something similar and thousands of people kickstarted it (including me) and nothing ever came of it. It was extremely disappointing, not because i "lost" money, but because products like this really need to be available.
This really upsets me. I never heard heard about date rape until I read this article and I am just asking myself "Why? Why do people use date rape drugs and date rape all in general?". I am happy that I now know of that problem and that someone is trying to fight it :)
My BS meter pegged and got bent. I have one of those "garbage pit" memories... everything goes and and never get's collected or destroyed. Well, I thought this sounded awfully familiar... and I was right. As an inventor/entrepreneur (a bit over 100 US patents and climbing), it makes me mad to see someone claim to be the inventor of something when they are not. These very privileged girls (who probably don't know much actual chemistry) have pulled the inventor's equivilant to plagarism: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1417-disposable-dipper-to-detect-date-rape-drug-is-launched/
The nail polish thing is impractical - you have to stick your germy fingers in your drink. (Also, not everyone wears nail polish!) A straw makes so much more sense.
Pretty sure someone already invented it. http://bust.com/general/10279-man-invents-straws-and-cups-that-detect-date-rape-drugs.html
http://bust.com/general/10279-man-invents-straws-and-cups-that-detect-date-rape-drugs.html
It's very sad to me that high school students need to be vigilant about these things. :(
omg - they have made a difference in the lives of so many re: prevention & we will never know the colossal extent to which they have made a difference. This goes beyond (!!) impressive - this is related to 'life-changing' events for the worse for so many - & thanks to these girls, the numbers of attacked girls will decrease. Novel approach as well ...
I was hoping they came out with something like this. Because date rape is so ridiculous nowadays.
A group of students of North Carolina State University, Ankesh Madan, Tyler Confrey-Maloney, Stephen Grey and Tasso Von Windheim, have created a drug-sensitive nail polish called Undercover Colors. The product changes color when it comes in contact with some of the more popular date-rape drugs. GHB, Rohypnol or Xanax will cause the chemical change indicating there is something extra is in the drink, though it may not be sensitive to other drugs or chemicals. They have been looking for potential investors, but have over $100,000 from both an interested investor and money they won from a competition. There are other date-rape drug identifying supplies, including drug-sensitive coasters, and cups and straws that change colors. The coasters are available for purchase at $5 USD each while the cups and straws should be available within the next year.
https://www.psfk.com/2014/09/date-rape-drugs-nail-polish-detector.html
That's amazing! Are they going to be out on the market? I'd like to see these at a local supermarket and everywhere else.
Back in 2014 there was another invention which was a kind of nail polish that did the same thing tho. It's good that they invent these things but it's basically the same thing that already existed/in the making. The nail polish called "Undercover Colors" is actually set to be launched this year after $5,5M of investments.
What an awful thing to say. You sound like part of the reason this needed to be an invention. Go home and stay there
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