An American company has invented a material it hopes will stop unwitting drinkers being drugged with date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol.
The inventor, Mike Abramson, who is the founder of a company called DrinkSavvy, was inspired to come up with such an invention after he himself was drugged.
Date rape affects thousands of women every year, as the drugs attack the central nervous system.
The drugs are often slipped into alcoholic drinks, but are nigh on impossible to detect as they are odorless, colorless and tasteless once they are in a drink.
Once consumed they can cause drowsiness, amnesia, and blackouts.
The material in question has been developed with Dr John MacDonald, a professor of Chemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts, U.S.
It immediately changes color to warn the drinker if something has been slipped into the drink.
The hope is that the material will be be turned into straws and stirrers, plastic cups, glassware, and eventually even bottles and cans.
In a glass the material would change from clear to red, to indicate it had been tampered with.
Mr Abramson said: ‘I was thinking that I needed to develop something that was discreet, effortless, and continuous.’
It may be some time before this clever invention is seen in pubs and clubs however, as DrinkSavvy has had to go public to help raise more funding.
The company can be found on fundraising website indiegogo.com as it has raised just less than half of its $50,000 goal it needs to continue developing the project.
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