The Legal Examiner Affiliate Network The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner search instagram avvo phone envelope checkmark mail-reply spinner error close The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner
Skip to main content

Nail Polish Could Help Identify Date Rape Drug in Drink

President Obama recently called for an increased awareness of the problem of rape on college campuses.  With Michigan State’s move-in weekend occurring as I type, I was particularly interested in a recent technological development that could help in the fight to stop rapes on college campuses.  Unfortunately, one of the most common ways used to rape college women, is the “date rape” drugs or GHB, Rohypnol, or Xanax, all of which are odorless and colorless and easily placed inside of an unattended drink.  These drugs cause an individual to lose consciousness, which makes it all too easy for a rape to take place with their little to no memory of the events when they awaken.  However, a simple beauty regimen–nail polish–could help potential rape victims to put down a drink contaminated with the date rape drugs prior to ever taking a sip.

“Undercover Colors”: the Crime-Fighting Nail Polish of the Future

Students at North Carolina State University are working together to create the new anti-rape nail polish, which they call “undercover colors’.  The nail polish would change colors when an individual picks up a drink contaminated with one of the date rape drugs through a chemical process, thereby alerting them that their drink is not safe for consumption.  The nail polish is not ready for mass production, but the young startup company founded by students Ankesh Madan, Stephen Gray, Tyler Confrey-Maloney and Tasso Von Windheim have already received seed funding to spread their nail polish invention to the public.

Sexual Assault a Major Problem on College Campuses

The nail polish could help to stop the problem of rape on college campuses.  In recent months, college campuses across the country have been rocked by reports of rapes and sexual assault.  Statistics suggest that 1 out of 5 college women will be raped during their college years.  Other statistics suggest that only 3% of men on college campuses will commit 90% of all rapes of college women.  What is clear is that rape on college campuses is a serious problem, and that it isn’t always the dark and brooding figure in the corner of an alley that is waiting to rape a young college women.  Rather, it is more often someone a young women knows or an unassuming man she meets at a party that will be more likely to rape her.  Although we also must address the problem at a policy level, it is also important to have inventions such as the undercover colors nail polish that will help college women to stay alert.

Comments for this article are closed.