Black market sales of a sedative known as the 'date rape drug' may have outstripped its legal use in Hong Kong, a Hospital Authority psychiatrist has revealed.
Rohypnol, registered as an insomnia cure and 10 times more potent than Valium, was banned in the United States this month after the US Drug Enforcement Administration said it had become 'the party drug of today'.
Hospital Authority executive partner, psychiatrist Dr Edwin Yu Chi-shing, said Hong Kong faced similar concerns to the US, where the drug has been slipped into drinks to induce drunk and drowsy feelings before a rape.
'It can be dissolved, and in Hong Kong there have been people putting this into other people's drinks and doing bad things; it has no obvious taste.
'It's a hypnotic and it can be dangerous,' Dr Yu said.
'Young people take it to change their mental state, somewhat like alcohol. They feel uninhibited and free.' Rohypnol - also known as 'the forget pill' because it can cause temporary blackouts and 'the cross' because of lines scored on its surface - can only be bought legally from pharmacists with a doctor's prescription.
But some doctors and nurses have faced disciplinary action after being accused of wrongfully providing prescriptions, and a Sheung Shui pharmacy recently lost an appeal to win back its licence after police were able to buy large quantities without a script.