Roofies, Mickies and Cautionary Tales: Examining the Persistence of the “Date-Rape Drug” Crime Narrative

Abstract

This article examines the origins and persistence of the “roofies” story, a crime narrative that emerged during the mid 1990s, warning women to guard their drinks against lurking predators seeking to incapacitate and rape them. The article explores both the construction of this crime story as a panic over club drugs and its persistence as a women's cautionary tale. We argue that the roofies narrative has endured long beyond the typical crime story because it has been reified as an institutionalized and protected rape narrative that is oft-repeated and rarely challenged.