Furious Seasons

May 21, 2008

Is Seroquel To Become The New "Roofie?"

I've complained on this site before about the odd phenomenon of Google searches for "seroquel snorting," "shooting seroquel" and the like coming to this site, principally because I have made stray mentions in the past of the drug's underground status as a drug of abuse. I think I was the first in the mental health blgosphere to write about Seroquel's misuse in this fashion in January 2007. And, the hits haven't let up since, sadly, because something is up in American society.

It's surely not AstraZeneca's fault, but its star antipsychotic is apparently becoming a new breed of hillbilly heroin, a la Oxycontin (which can also be crushed and snorted, or melted down and injected). The $4 billion a year in sales drug is set for FDA approval for depression and anxiety, meaning there will be even more of it out there to divert into underground uses. Lovely.

Last evening, however, I was visited by someone in the US looking for information on "seroquel 'date rape.'" Yes, the very concept is sickening, but I did a Google search myself using the term and found that Bipolar Chicks Blogging had had similar visits as well. Apparently, some very major criminals out there are using Seroquel as a drug to turn women--likely teens, given that that's the age group where the drug seems abused the most--into rape victims by slipping them a Seroquel. I have no idea if the perps are crushing the medication and mixing it into a drink or somehow slipping their victim the drug in pill form, but you can imagine the effect this sedating drug could have on someone. I can find no record of any arrests of anyone using the drug in this fashion.

Sadly, this is how "Roofies" or rohypnol gained infamy in the 1980s. As sick as I find all of this, I thought it was necessary to point out just how weirdly embedded antipsychotics are becoming in our culture and how they are being put to very sad uses. For those of you who bump into this post long after it's published, don't even think about doing what you are thinking about doing. Rape isn't just a crime. It can mess up its victims--female or male--for many, many years to come. So don't do it.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at May 21, 2008 12:19 AM

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Comments

Who in the world came up with the idea to use Seroquel in this manner as opposed to, oh say, Prozac or Zyprexa? What is so special about Seroquel? The wide prevalence of the instant somnolence side effect? Maybe I'm a dumbass but I just don't get it.

Posted by: Marissa Miller at May 21, 2008 08:51 AM

This is all the more reason why drug reps need to stop leaving Seroquel at psych/PCP offices. This stuff is abusable, addictive, and needs to be considered a controlled substance. It's a street drug now. I thought my psych would fall off of his chair when I told him he should stop giving it out for free, and how ppl are snorting it, and it's being abused in prisons. Doctors don't know this stuff unless patients tell them what happens outside of their offices. In the meantime, I wonder what a 25mg would see for? I had a search once "is seroquel like a xanax bar" mostly it's "seroquel withdrawals".

I believe no one understands this drug's mechanism--for some ppl 800mg wires them. For others 25mg knocks them out cold. I consider it a dangerous drug, but that's just my opinion.

Posted by: Stephany at May 21, 2008 10:11 AM

Why on EARTH would anyone take this unless they had to? Seriously. Anti-psychotics are no fun to take.

Posted by: DeeDee Ramona at May 21, 2008 02:55 PM

Sorry to say; but we (and possibly many of you as well) are now getting variations of "snorting or street value of: Zyprexa and Risperdal."

Every once in awhile we'd get the date rape hit; but over the weekend there was a ton. The seroquel stuff just keeps getting stranger-how can they ignore this?

I have this one, old, sarcastic post that is hit on every day like crazy and should probably take it down because it sounds as if I'm promoting it. :P
(actually I'd like to see it scheduled-but that won't happen until all the APs are generic...or the profits will drop; because the script pad is not so liberal when the doc's are being watched like hawks)

Posted by: d at May 21, 2008 03:18 PM

"So don't do it."
They do!
Rohypnol is still on the market here.
How easy it's to make someone looks crazy today.
Put your "beloved" on Paxil/Zoloft/Effexor or alike and let the person feels "strange". Go to the first GP or psychiatrist and side effects will be prescribed as a mental condition.
Chantix seems to be a great drug for this purpose.
Perhaps I'm too paranoid.

Posted by: Ana at May 25, 2008 03:32 PM

"side effects will be prescribed as a mental condition"

This encapsulates my thinking on psychiatry. Brilliant.

Posted by: Paul at May 26, 2008 07:34 AM