Radio interview with Stéphane Maurais, CEO of Alco Prevention Canada
Transcription of Stéphane Maurais’ interview on Spice 1200AM Podcast radio about coasters that detect the presence of date-rape drugs in drinks.
Natasha:
This is Spice Radio1200AM, that is Natasha, and we are talking about some very, very interesting topics. And now we’re shifting focus to a very different topic.
We’re talking about how you can keep yourself safe when you are on a date. A typical story you would hear, I say, a girl or a guy, they go for a date first time and they start feeling nauseous, tired.
They blame it on something. Say, probably a very hectic day and when this person goes to the washroom, they realize that when they look into the mirror that they could have been drugged. Why? Because they look pale. Their pupils are dilated and they know they are in trouble. What do they do? Then they call friends and ask them to take them home.
This is probably a story we’ve heard many times, shedding light on a very interesting aspect of detecting these dating drugs. We have with us, Stéphane Maurais, General Manager, Alco Prevention Canada, a company in Laval, Quebec, that has brought into the market coasters that detect drug placed in drinks.
How interesting is that? Welcome to the show, Stéphane.
Stéphane:
Thank you for having us on the show and want to say hi to all my friends in Vancouver. Beautiful city.
Natasha:
Awesome! And we hope to see you here soon. Because yes, the weather is just about fine here, even with the little snow that we see, just right for Christmas.
Stéphane:
Yeah, yeah.
Natasha:
So tell us Stéphane, how does this work, this whole coaster thing?
Stéphane:
Well, basically, you know, it’s a coaster. It’s a really nice tool and on each coaster, you have two tests. One is for ketamine and the other one is for GHB which are rape drugs. So, all you have to do is take a drop of your drink and you put on your T-zone for GHB and ketamine. And if the Test -zone comes blue, that means your drink has been spiked by either GHB or ketamine. And what is nice is each coaster as two tests. So, it’s good for two tests, for your evening. So, it’s very safe and responsible to have one of those in your purse, for example.
Natasha:
And are they reusable or do you need to discard them after use?
Stéphane:
Yeah, exactly. it’s a one-time use. Yes.
Natasha:
So, you’ve been talking about ketamine and GHB. What are the other rape drugs that we’re talking about? I mean, generally that we need to be careful about.
Stéphane:
Oh, yeah. Well, there’s a lot more, but most of them are GHB and ketamine. But you might find other rape drugs in the market, but they are not as popular as these two that I’ve just mentioned.
Natasha:
OK. And what about false positives? I mean, is there a possibility of that?
Stéphane:
Well, it’s an interesting question. The Canadian Society of Forensic Science, they published a study, and the coasters were 100 percent accurate. So, it’s fabulous. They tested a lot of drinks with the coaster and believe it or not, I was a little bit surprised, because usually, I mean, that might be like five percent false positive, but everything that was tested was accurate.
So, it was it was done by the Canadian Society of Forensic Science.
Natasha:
Awesome. And what has the response been to this? I mean, there would be a lot of people saying, yes, we want this for our restaurant, we want this for a bar, or we want this for personal use as well.
Stéphane:
Yeah. Now well, basically, our target market are women between 15 and 34 years old. Okay, and also, the buyers are very interested to have them during the evening or there’s a request for universities. We have a lot of orders coming from universities, for students’ associations or different universities. So instead of giving it, I mean, it’s something every woman should have on campus.
Natasha:
Mmhmm. And even upon, you know, creating this product, how did you kind of come up with this idea to use a coasters that detect drug placed in drinks in particular?
Stéphane:
Well, we have been working in Canada for at least two to three years.
I founded Alco Prevention Canada back in 1989, when I was in university and my focus at that time was drinking and driving because I think too many people are telling themselves I want to drive even if they have six or seven drinks.
So, we have been in the industry for many years and if you look at the media lately, you will find that the Charlottetown police, the Welsh police are investigating a lot of incidents related to drink spiking. So, there’s a need in the market and bar holders, and they need to make sure that when we go into a location, it’s a safe location. So, unfortunately, it’s something that we have seen in the last year and bringing this culture on board isjust another tool to prevent these spiking.
Natasha:
Mm-Hmm.
And I just want to talk a little bit more about the drug spiking problem and especially when your company was doing this research, when did you notice that there was this need for this kind of product? And just how common is this issue?
Stéphane:
Yeah, about two years ago, we have been looking at this in the media, what was going on and even that this summer, I think it’s 800 000 pills of GHB were collected by the police. There’s a bar in Quebec City that closed and lost its license three months ago because there was too many drink spiking incidents. So, I think unfortunately it’s there and people should make sure they have a tool just in case.
Natasha:
And the sad thing is, we do not know the numbers. How many people have been spiked? What arethe numbers? How often where does this happen? How does this happen? What drugs are being used? Of course, you have an idea that the ketamine and the GHB are the most widely used drugs. But unless you are a victim and most probably you know, you wouldn’t even have a recollection of what has happened the night before. That is the main reason that we, many of the cases don’t go reported.
Stéphane:
Yeah, but I read in a recent study that 7 in 10 people know someone was deemed by drinks spiking,so 70 percent of the population know someone was affected by drink spike. That was an interesting statistic, I found in a recent study I read.
Natasha:
It sure is, and I find it interesting that universities and colleges have joined in the bandwagon of getting this for their students because I believe when we talk about parties, these are the places wherethis kind of incident can happen and does happen as well.
Stéphane:
Yes, exactly, unfortunately. And I have a daughter of 18 years old, you know, and I make sure that she has a few coasters on her whether she goes out. And I think the university is moving forward. And we can even customize the coaster with the name of the university on it. It is just a good idea.
Natasha:
Well, that’s fantastic. In fact, as a woman, as a parent, I know we tell our girls, our daughters, our lives to watch out and, you know, watch over their drinks, so we want them good enough. But if I want to buy one of those coasters, you know, keep a seat for my kids or my friends, how do we get a hold on that?
Stéphane:
Well, a good question. I mean, we do a lot of orders for bars with where we customize. Otherwise. If you come on our website, at alco prevention.com, you can order one or two coasters for now or for your future needs and we will deliver to you at your address. But for the bars, you can contact Alco Prevention Canada and we can start producing the coasters for them.
Natasha:
And the big question Stéphane, how expensive is it?
Stéphane:
Well, it’s not very expensive. I mean, for a large order for bars, we’re talking about $2.00 a coaster. So, when you say so, when you think about the cost of a drink, as most of the time, it’s between $10.00, $14.00 for a drink, a glass of wine. So having a coaster at $2.00, is a no brainer as far as I’m concerned.
Natasha:
Absolutely, Stéphane and just one more question. The nail polish we’ve heard there has been talks about a nail polish, which you when you put it on your nails and you dip it in the drink or that doesn’t sound quite right. But yeah, it tells you whether your drink has been spiked. Is that fake or real news? Have you heard of this one?
Stéphane:
Yeah, it’s an Israeli company that put that innovation that it was back like five or six years ago. But to my knowledge, it never came to the market.
Natasha:
OK. So just a reminder to our listeners. You want to buy this product? You can go on to Alcoprevention. com. It doesn’t cost you very much, of course, but if you have your own restaurant, your own bar, you will want to consider this as an added benefit to your customers. I think that’s a fantastic idea. So, Stéphane, I realized before I let you go, you want to tell us something more or something that you want to addabout your company about, say, the other drug testing products that you have?
Stéphane:
Well, I would encourage people to also make sure that when they drink, they blow before they go. We have a campaign going on it’s called blow before you go. If you drink socially, you need to make sure with using a breathalyzer that you are OK to drive. Don’t think you are OK to drive until you’re blowing in a breathalyzer. And we have very good breathalyzer that are made here in Canada, and it’s a nice gift also to save lives, save accident, keep your job. And with the Christmas events coming, I think it’s a good idea to have one with you.
Natasha:
Fantastic Stéphane! Such a pleasure talking to you. You’ve added so much quality and in-depth conversation to this morning. Thank you so much for your time. We wish you all the very best.
Stéphane:
Thank you, and I wish you my best wishes for the coming year as well.
Natasha:
Yeah, same here. Happy holidays, Stéphane.
Stéphane:
Thank you. Bye bye.