Comparative Study of Solubility of Tranquilizers (Alternative Date Rape Drugs) in Stomach Acid

Date Rape Drugs are the members of tranquilizers and sedative class of drugs. These are the substances that make it easier for someone to rape or assault sexually. The person who is administrated by these drugs can cause sleepiness, slow breathing, slow heartbeat rate, trouble in muscle coordination, loss of consciousness. GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid), Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), Ketamine are generally considered as date rape drugs. As Food and Drug Administration Department of Central Government of India considered this issue and placed these drugs under the schedule of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Thereafter it is nearly impossible to get these drugs easily. But criminals have been searched new way through it. Normal tranquilizers and sedatives are also being used for committing such crimes. These drugs are also scheduled, but one can get them with prescription from a registered medical practitioner. So we carried out a comparative study of 3 tranquilizers from the benzodiazepine class that are Diazepam, Alprazolam, and Librium to check their dissolving rate in stomach acid. Estimation of action time of drug can help an investigator to identify the class of drug and time of drug injected (early phase). In our study, we found that the dissolving period of Diazepam and Alprazolam is more than conventional drugs.