Question:  I got a DUI in Cobb County, Georgia, and I really didn't drink that much and I can't remember anything so I think I was drugged. I went to a bar with a friend from work and we each only had two drinks and my second drink was bought by a guy who gave it to me. It was rum and coke and it tasted a little off, but I didn't think about it at the time because I thought it was just the coke or rum that tasted a little bit weird. But now I'm thinking that it had a drug in it, like a date rape drug or something.

My friend left the bar and I was hanging out with the guy who bought me the drink, who I had just met. After we talked a little I remember telling him that I had to go because I had a meeting early at work the next day; I work in Sandy Springs. From that time I don't remember anything at all. I just remember waking up in the back of the police car and going to jail. When I woke up I had a massive headache and my pants were pulled down a little and I couldn't find my belt.

I'm not sure if I was assaulted or anything but I really felt weird and dazed. The cops said I was parked on the side of the road and the car was running and that someone called 911. The person who called said that I was in the car and maybe I was dead or unconscious.

I want to know from a great Cobb County DUI lawyer about these date rape drugs and if they can cause someone to get a DUI because the more I think about it the more I think I may have been slipped a drug. These date rape drugs are always in the news, especially with the whole Bill Cosby scandal. I've had a DUI before and I don't need another charge because I know that the punishments get pretty harsh when you get more than one drunk driving arrest.

R.S. in Marietta, GA

Answer:  Unfortunately, so-called “date rape” drugs have been in the news a lot lately. Stories involving these types of sexual assaults have been all over newspapers, magazines, T.V. and cable news programs. Many of the date rape drugs have effects that mimic the effects of alcohol. So it is certainly possible to get a DUI after having taken one of these drugs.

Drugs like Rohypnol, GHB, MDMA (ecstasy/XTC) and Ketamine have effects that one can easily assume were from drinking. Relaxation, drowsiness, dizziness and distorted perceptions are all associated with these drugs. And drinking alcohol increases the effects of the drugs, making them that much more potent and dangerous.

In your case, we'd very much like to know if you took a breath test or a blood test. That will help determine if you were drugged. We have told clients in the past that if they believe they were drugged, they should seek their own blood test to prove it. If it turns out that they were drugged, that could certainly help their DUI defense.

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