Date-rape drinking straws, cups change color even in dim bars

GlobalPost

A new business selling straws, stir sticks and cups that change color when they come into contact with date-rape drugs has raised $15,000 online for marketing and development.

DrinkSavvy Inc. and founder Mike Abramson said he came up with the idea three years ago after he fell victim to a suspected drugging.

“I went to the bar and I had my very first drink of the night,” he told NECN TV. “About halfway through the first drink, it started to feel much more like my 15th.”

Angered, he researched solutions and discovered testing strips that detect odorless, tasteless and colorless drugs like rohypnol, ketamine or GHB.

However, he said these are limited because they require constant testing.

“I was thinking that I needed to develop something that was discreet, effortless and continuous,” he said.

DrinkSavvy cups will change from clear to red, for example, if someone slips drugs into a drink. The change will be obvious even in dim light, inventors say.

Abramson won a $12,500 prize from his alma mater, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and hopes to raise $50,000 online for prototypes through Indiegogo.com.

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