New Device 'ph.ID' can Detect Roofies in Your Drink

A new pocket device helps detect date rape drugs mixed in your drink.

Rohypnol, also known as 'roofie', or other date rape drugs, induce drowsiness, confusion and incapacitate people. These drugs are increasingly used in sexual assaults where the victim is unaware of what is happening. A new device, ph.ID, developed by Canadian experts, can identify date rape drugs added to alcoholic beverages.

 The ph.ID is an easy-to-carry device that examines color, temperature and conductivity of a drink. It uses information stored in the database of a smartphone app to compare and recognize whether the drink contains common date rape drugs like Rohypnol, benzodiazepines and Ambien, reports the News Reports.

The device flashes a green light when the drink is tampered with undesired additives that are hard to identify in cocktail mixtures and a red light if the drink is spiked.

According to a recent data estimates, one in every four American women are victims of some form of sexual assault and one-fourth of these sexual crimes involves use of date rape drugs, reports the Daily Beast.

"Pd.id relies on proven technology that has been used by drug enforcement agencies, such as the U.S. DEA, for years. We started with that technology, costing tens of thousands of dollars as our base, then re-engineered and designed it to be user-friendly and affordable," write the experts in the website, reports the Daily Beast.

However, the device is not equipped in pointing out the drug itself and can give a false reading when a drink is mixed with dishwashing detergents. The gadget costs about $75 each and is reliable as a 'warning system' to prevent sex crime.