By Gabby Fiorino Features Editor
It’s a growing problem in our society today. It is becoming much more common for drinks to get spiked with drugs that would enable predators to sexually assault their victims. One in every five women claims to have been date raped, and one out of three of those women claimsto have been in college when this occurred. Four men knew one person to be part of this statistic. These four males decided to solve this problem.
Ankesh Madan, Stephen Gray, Tasso Von Windheim, and Tyler Confrey-Maloney, students at the University of North Carolina, created a nail polish called “Undercover Colors” that is able to detect date rape drugs such as GHB, Ronypnol, and Xanax by simply changing colors when it comes in contact with the drug.
To activate the nail polish, all the woman has to do is dip her finger in the drink and swirl it around, as if she were just stirring her drink, and in a matter of seconds, the nail polish changes colors, letting the woman know that there is something wrong with her drink.
Some have concerns about the nail polish. Feminist groups have been protesting the nail polish, saying that since it is only “socially acceptable” for women to wear nail polish, it seems as if now only women have to watch out for the drugs while men have nothing to worry about.
“Rape Crisis does not endorse or promote such a product or anything similar. This is for three reasons: it implies that it’s the woman’s fault and assumes responsibility on her behalf, and detracts from the real issues that arise from sexual violence,” says a Newsweek Magazine article.
There have also been many skeptics about the nail polish. The Washington Post states “In many a laboratory study, the chemical test used by the new nail polish often fails to detect the drugs in question, while turning up false positives for lots of other benign things.”
While the product may have some doubts, if it were to come out and be as effective as it states, then this might just be the perfect accessory to any night out!