Bill Cosby's admission in court that he obtained quaaludes for the purpose of facilitating sex with women has prompted a popular internet meme featuring Cosby as Morpheus from The Matrix. In The Matrix, Morpheus offers Neo the choice between two pills, explaining the consequences of each choice:
"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."
In the meme, Bill Cosby as Morpheus is also offering a choice between the red pill and the blue pill, but the implication is that either choice will end in rape.
Bill Cosby's case is not the only one involving celebrities, quaaludes, and rape that is in the news these days. Just last week, the Huffington Post ran an article in which bassist Jackie Fox, who formerly played in the Runaways with Joan Jett, says she was plied with quaaludes and raped by the band's manager, Kim Fowley, when she was only 16 years old.
Fox, whose real name is Jackie Fuchs, says that several people--including bandmates Joan Jett and Cherie Currie--witnessed the rape. While many people have supported her claim, saying they witnessed the rape but did not know what to do about it, Jett and Currie both deny witnessing the attack, saying they would have intervened had they seen a defenseless friend being violated.
Fowley had a reputation as a sex-starved predator, saying of himself, "I'm like a shark. I'll smell the blood." His companions at the time said he and Fowley would drive to local high schools to hit on teen girls with wealthy parents. The companion told the Huffington Post, "We'd all be arrested today."
As for the allegations of Jackie Fox, Fowley is unable to comment. He died in January.
Both the Cosby case and the Fowley allegations stem from incidents that happened decades ago, but date rape drugs and drug-facilitated sexual assault are still rampant today.
An estimated 75 percent of all rapes are classified as date rape or acquaintance rape. While quaaludes are in the news lately as seeming to be the date rape drug of choice--at least for celebrities in the 1970's--the most frequently used drug in drug-facilitated date rape is alcohol. Brown University's Student Health Services cites studies showing that 90 percent of all campus rapes occur when either the victim or the perpetrator--or both--have been drinking.
Frequently, date rape is not a planned assault, in which one person slips GHB or rohypnol into another's drink without his or her knowledge for the sole purpose of facilitating rape. Instead, according to The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, most date rapes or acquaintance rapes are "crimes of opportunity." The perpetrator does not necessarily ply the victim with drugs or alcohol in order to render him or her incapable of providing consent or fighting back, but rather, he or she sees a heavily intoxicated person as an "easy target."
Up to 70 percent of college students report that they have had a sexual encounter while under the influence of drugs or alcohol that they would not have had if they had been sober at the time. It is vitally important to understand that Oklahoma rape laws forbid not only administering drugs to another person for the purpose of facilitating rape, but also having sexual intercourse with a person who is "unconscious of the nature of the act." In other words, regardless of whether a person was given drugs without his or her knowledge, or whether the person drank or used freely of his or her own accord, if the person is intoxicated or impaired to a degree that he or she is unable to give or withhold consent, taking advantage of that person is a felony sex crime.
More Information on Rape Crimes & Defense
Learn more about date rape, acquaintance rape, and drug-facilitated rape defense by calling (405) 418-8888 for a free case evaluation. You can also read more about the topic on our rape category page.
Image Credit: e-Magine Art
