Drugs involved in drug-facilitated crimes--part II: Drugs of abuse, prescription and over-the-counter medications. A review.

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the number of reports of drug-facilitated crimes. Usually, individuals report that they were robbed or assaulted while incapacitated by drugs. Most often, these cases have involved drugs that have the ability to produce an effect that leaves the victim in a semiconscious or unconscious state. It is reasonable to assume that the purpose of drug-induced incapacitation is probably largely unchanged with time. This covers the full range of property offences (particularly theft) and crimes against the person (often sexual assault). What have changed are the drugs themselves: the number; type; their accessibility; effects and detection. This review describes the different aspects related to the involvement and use of drugs of abuse, as well as prescription and over-the counter medications in drug-facilitated crimes, which may help people working in this field to expand their knowledge in order to better understand the nature of these crimes or offences.

Drugs involved in drug-facilitated crimes: part I: alcohol, sedative-hypnotic drugs, gamma-hydroxybutyrate and ketamine. A review.

SUMMARY: In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the number of reports of drug-facilitated crimes (DFCs). Usually, individuals report that they were robbed or assaulted while incapacitated by drugs. Most often, these cases have involved drugs that have the ability to produce an effect that leaves the victim in a semiconscious or unconscious state. It is reasonable to assume that the purpose of drug-induced incapacitation is probably largely unchanged with time. This covers the full range of property offences (particularly theft) and crimes against the person. What have changed are the drugs themselves: the number; type; their accessibility; effects and detection. The purpose of this review is to explore the different aspects related to the involvement and use of ethanol, sedative-hypnotics drugs, gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and ketamine in DFCs or offences, which may help people working in this field to expand their knowledge for better understanding of the nature of these crimes or offences.

Drug-facilitated crimes: definitions, prevalence, difficulties and recommendations. A review.

Drug-facilitated crimes are not a new phenomenon but rather an age-old practice. However, reports of drug-facilitated crimes have significantly increased since the mid-1990s. Victims of these crimes or offences report that they were robbed or assaulted while incapacitated by a drug. Most often, these cases have involved strong central nervous system depressant drugs, which have the capability of preventing individuals from consenting to the action of the perpetrator of fighting off their attackers. For all intents and purposes, the drug acts as the offender's weapon, therefore many jurisdictions require analytical proof of its presence, which helps substantiate the alleged victim's claim. This review was undertaken to identify the evolutionary process in the current understanding of allegations of these crimes or offences, so that whoever works in this field may gain a better understanding of the complexities involved in such cases. This review provides several definitions of drug-facilitated crimes, their prevalence in European and English-speaking countries, a list of intoxicating substances, which have so far been incriminated or been suspected to be involved in these crimes or offences, some of the more common difficulties encountered in the investigation, and recommendations to improve detection of the drugs through toxicological analyses.