There are 79 new date rape drugs circulating in Italy.

Psychoactive substances can be a significant facilitator of sexual violence. And as with sports doping, the list of new drugs entering the market—and also used in sexual abuse—is constantly changing and expanding. Currently, there are 79 new substances circulating in our country, which can be detected with the right laboratory tests, provided they are known. This was the topic at the center of the recent national congress of the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology – Laboratory Medicine (SIBioC), which just concluded in Florence.

The guidelines

The National Center for Addiction and Doping at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Institute of Health) is the steering committee in the fight against date rape drugs, regularly sharing new toxicological findings with testing laboratories. The document "Operating Procedures for the Determination of Substances of Abuse in Biological Matrices in Cases of Victims of Drug-Related Violence," published in September by the Clinical, Forensic, and Doping Toxicology Study Group of the SIBioC, establishes guidelines for actions to ensure proper testing of victims.

"The new psychoactive substances used in sexual assault are often the same ones circulating for recreational use, so to speak," explains Paolo Bucchioni , of the Clinical, Forensic, and Doping Toxicology Study Group at SIBioC. "Thanks to new technologies, which are more sensitive than in the past, we can accurately identify the molecules used, even the newest ones, and thus be able to assist victims even in legal proceedings."

Taking charge of the victims

Care, Bucchioni continues, begins with the person's arrival at the emergency room and the initiation of the Pink Code protocol, dedicated to victims of violence. The first samples taken are blood and urine, which yield different results based on the time of substance use: blood allows us to identify what was consumed in the preceding few hours, while urine allows for a more extensive analysis over time. The victim must then be sensitized, informing them that within 30-45 days of the violent episode, they can have a hair sample taken, as this can help identify the presence of a narcotic or psychotropic substance even days later.

It is essential that the person be advised not to undergo any cosmetic treatment before the sample is taken, as this could affect the outcome. These analyses can not only identify substances at different times of ingestion, thanks to the different properties of the three matrices, but can also be analyzed at another laboratory if the facility that collected the samples does not have the necessary technology.

Laboratories are needed in all regions

Not all toxicology laboratories are capable of performing these investigations—due to a lack of both the necessary technology and expertise—and those that exist are unevenly distributed across the country: "Some regions have several centers, others don't even have one," Bucchioni emphasizes. "Their presence is essential to ensure laboratory data is reliable and legally sound, and to harmonize procedures nationwide. When faced with incidents of physical violence, it is crucial that emergency medical interventions take into account both the clinical aspects and subsequent legal implications, and therefore samples must be collected and processed carefully to avoid contamination and degradation. To make the system more sustainable, we would need at least one center for each region, equipped with the most innovative technologies and specially trained personnel: this is one of the suggestions we included in the recently published document."