Two women report potential druggings at Ujamaa

Oct. 19, 2019, 10:25 p.m.

Within minutes of each other early Saturday morning, two women told first responders that they suspected they had been drugged at an Ujamaa gathering the previous night.

According to an AlertSU notification sent Saturday night, a female Stanford student reported that alcoholic beverages she drank at a Friday night party might have been spiked with drugs. A second report by another female echoed the concern. According to a Campus Security Authority, one of the individuals underwent a drug test at Stanford Hospital, which came back negative. 

Knowingly drugging someone without their consent is aggravated assault, so the incident is being treated as a possible aggravated assault. The notification stated there is no indication that additional crimes such as sexual assault occurred. 

It is unclear what date-rape drugs were tested at Stanford Hospital. Last week a female student reported another drugging incident at an unknown location on the Row, and underwent a drug test came back positive for gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB). In 2017, one of several students who had been drugged at a Sigma Chi fraternity party went to the hospital for a test that came back positive for benzodiazepines. 

But benzodiazepines and GHB are only two examples of the wide variety of date-rape drugs, which are usually clear and odorless sedatives that often produce amnesia when paired with alcohol. Other common examples include “club drugs” such as ketamine, Rohypnol and MDMA. Many varieties of sleeping aids, antidepressants and over-the-counter pills are also used by criminals. Hard alcohol alone has also been used to spike drinks. 

It is difficult for hospital tests to conclusively rule out all the varieties of drugs that could be used to incapacitate someone. Police are still seeking a suspect in a separate drugging that occurred on the Row last week. It is unclear whether the incidents are related.

Any updates to the case will be available at https://police.stanford.edu/alert/. Those who have information about any potential crime are encouraged to call the Stanford University Department of Public Safety at (650) 329-2413 at any time. Resources for sexual assault survivors and information about stopping sexual crimes were also linked in the university AlertSU.

The subheading of this article has been updated to clarify that the reported drugging on the Row last week has not been confirmed. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Cooper Veit at cveit ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Cooper Veit '22 is an opinions writer and amateur Steinbeck scholar from San Francisco. Talk to him about the work and life of John Steinbeck, and contact him at cveit 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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