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November 2006
Drugged with GHB, beaten and robbed
Is it illegal to have sexual relations with someone who is unknowingly under the effect of a rape drug?
Yes. This would be a sexual assault. Even if a person does not resist the assault or is not conscious of the assault, a person who is under the effects of a rape drug administered to them without their knowledge does not have the capacity to consent to sexual activity.
To give valid consent to sexual activity, a person must be sufficiently conscious. A person who is extremely drunk, unconscious, in a coma, or under the effects of a rape drug does not have sufficient consciousness in order to be able to give their consent. In other words, without the consent of all of the people involved, sexual contact becomes sexual assault.
Is it a criminal offence just to drug someone with a rape drug?
Yes. Independent of anything else done to the drugged person (mugging, assault, kidnapping, theft), the simple fact of drugging them with a rape drug without their knowledge is a criminal offence.
The person who drugs the other person without their knowledge can be accused of:
- Administering a noxious thing (dangerous substance) to someone with the intention of aggrieving or annoying that person;
- Administering a drug to someone with the intention of facilitating another criminal offence.
A person found guilty of the first offence may face a prison term of 2 years. A person found guilty of the second offence may face life imprisonment.
For more information on the subject, please read our Infosheets on:
Sexual assault.
Offences related to certain drugs .
