Tiny device can detect spiked drinks – video

Crowd funding campaign aims to prevent date-rape with small battery-powered drug test

A crowd-funding campaign to produce a small, battery operated device that can test if a drink has been spiked has been launched by US developers.

It uses technology developed by the US Drug Enforcement agency to test for common date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol, Zolpidem and other benzodiazepines. It is re-usable and can be linked to a smartphone.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Indiegogo campaign hopes to raise $100,000 (£58,000) to produce the gadget commercially. Developers say that if they reach their target the device could be available in just over six months.

According to the campaign, one woman in four will be sexually assaulted and a quarter of those cases will be "linked to alcohol and date-rape drugs".

"It's about personal protection, feeling secure, and it's about empowering our daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, spouses, partners, friends, co-workers and ourselves," developer David Wilson told Sky News.