One can never be too careful. You might be at a party, having a good time and sipping your second drink. Then the next thing you know it’s the next day. Pretty unusual, huh? Has it ever happened to you? Unfortunately, it’s probably happened to more people than one might actually believe.

Last week it was made public that three women, two from Iowa State and one from the Story County, had reported being drugged and raped by an unknown person. The Department of Public Safety said the first two cases were reported in mid-September and the third in October. A representative from the Story County Sexual Assault Response Team said usually only one or two drug-facilitated rape cases are reported a year.

The women who came forward should be applauded for taking the necessary steps for reporting these incidents. Because of the nature of the crime and the alleged use of date-rape drugs, it is difficult to prove whether the event actually occurred. The drugs that are usually used in these incidents, rohypnol and gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), go through a victim’s system so quickly that it’s difficult to detect them even just a day later. According to a study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, rohypnol’s effects are felt within 15 to 30 minutes after intake, and usually victims are often uncertain of whether a sexual assault occurred. After 72 hours of ingestion, all traces of the drug are gone.

Heather Priess, a SART coordinator, advises students to take precautions while drinking alcohol. She said warning signals should go off if a person has only had one or two drinks and is intoxicated. Other steps to avoid drugging are to never accept a drink from a person you don’t know or to get a new drink if you’ve left it alone on a table, even if it’s a glass of water.

If a person believes they’ve been drugged, Priess said the person should be immediately taken to a hospital and should not urinate before arrival. She said the best way to detect if rohypnol, GHB or if any other date-rape drug has been used is to take a urine test.

But the best way to avoid being drugged is to avoid alcohol. Priess said alcohol is the drug of choice for people who facilitate sexual assaults. “Alcohol … is the biggest thing we worry about,” she said. “People who are intoxicated are vulnerable.”

Also; she urged people to also beware of the people they’d least expect in a sexual assault — a close friend or significant other. Priess said that in 90 percent of cases in Story County and 80 percent of national cases, sexual assaults are committed by a person the victim knew.

If you believe you’ve been sexually assaulted, please call the Sexual Assault Support Services number run by SART at 232-2302. Don’t pretend it’s normal or it never happened — just get the help that you deserve.

Editorial Board:Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Ayrel Clark, Charlie Weaver, Rachel Faber Machacha, Zach Calef.