Quebec emergency rooms now equipped with kits to detect date-rape drug GHB

All emergency rooms in Quebec's health-care network are now equipped with kits to detect traces of psychoactive substance intoxication in urine, including gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), commonly known as the date-rape drug.

Quebec officials claim that the kits will make it easier for victims of sexual assault to report it to the police and to provide them with better support.

Anyone who believes they have been intoxicated can now go to any emergency triage unit in any region of Quebec and request a urine kit. The intoxication must have occurred within the previous 48 hours because, after this time, it becomes more difficult to detect substances that the intoxicated person may have used.

The test detects over 200 substances, including GHB, but the detection window varies from one substance to another. For example, GHB remains detectable within 10 to 12 hours of intoxication.

In addition to the kits, victims will first be informed of the possibility of filing a complaint with the police if the test proves positive and of the resources available to help them.

The emergency department will collect the urine sample and, with the person's consent, contact the local police service. The kits will then be analyzed by the Laboratoire des sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale (LSJML).

The police service will then communicate the results to the victim to discuss the continuation of the investigation process, if appropriate.

This process is voluntary, and the victim may decide not to pursue it at any time.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, wants to ensure that people who may have unknowingly fallen victim to intoxication have rapid access to the kits needed to detect it, especially as the holiday season approaches and social gatherings become more popular.

The government said that the Info-aide violence sexuelle organization offers assistance to victims of sexual assault and those around them at all times throughout Quebec.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 1, 2023.