It's Wednesday, February 26, and this is the 19 o nine, the state news's weekly podcast featuring our reporters talking about the news. I'm your host, Alex Walters. This week, students are coming together to solve a persistent problem. Reflecting on their experience at East Lansing bars, a pair of Michigan State grads claimed they've invented a straw that prevents drink spiking. Here to talk about it is the state news business reporter, Anna Barnes.
Alex:Welcome
Anna:Hi. Nice to be here.
Alex:Yeah. It's great to have you. So, you know, before we get into this kind of invention that you've written about, let's talk a little bit about this issue of drink spiking that college students might be familiar with. This is going on at bars, at parties. Tell me a little bit about, you know, I guess, what is the problem students are trying to solve?
Anna:Yeah. So the main demographic for people that get their drink spiked is 18 20 four. And when you think about that, that's college age pretty much. Like, even though it's younger than 21, so 18 to 21, that's, you know, legally people aren't allowed to drink at those times, but they do, especially on college campuses. So, with that, it's that age range with college students.
Anna:So college students in that age range are the most vulnerable.
Alex:And you have data in your story about kinda how common this problem is.
Anna:Yes. So there was a study done by the American Psychological Association, and it was among 6,000 students at three different universities. And it showed that more than one in thirteen students have had their drinks spiked. And then four out of five of those students reported negative outcomes from their drugging. And then one of the cofounders, Zachary Zimba, said that one in every three college age women are victims of illegal drug tampering as well.
Anna:Mhmm.
Alex:And this is part of sort of, like, I guess, kind of like a common date rape scenario, right, where someone is drugging someone to them, take advantage of them.
Anna:Yes. Yeah. That's why, like, that four out of five have that bad experience afterwards where something negative follows the drugging.
Alex:Yeah. And so tell me about how did these these grads come up with the idea that they're gonna try and, you know, solve this problem? How do they come to this as, like, you know, their their field?
Anna:Yeah. So it's pretty interesting because Jack Rushlow, one of the cofounders, he had an entrepreneurship minor. And so in one of his classes, he was put into a group, and This was not with the other cofounder. And they were given a pitch to kind of develop and then, present to the class. And his group did not like their pitch at all.
Anna:They didn't really know how to develop it and they were having some struggles. So they decided, you know what? Let's go to the bar and talk about it, which, I mean, isn't, like, a super rare experience for MSU. But Yeah. It's quite a big
Alex:project, though.
Anna:Yeah. So he went to the bar with them. And while they were there, one of his group members, had their drinks spiked. And Mhmm. They, you know, that obviously turned out to be not what they were expecting from their night.
Anna:So after that, they kind of decided, you know, this is an actual problem. You know, I we just went to the bar for a couple drinks to talk about this, and, you know, someone got spiked. And they kind of looked into how, you know, common it is for drink spiking to happen, and that's where they got to the idea of a straw that could tell you when your your drink was spiked.
Alex:So And so this is something that they come upon, and then for this, like, entrepreneurship class project, they have to come up with, like, a product.
Anna:Yeah. So they were they were given a different pitch, and they didn't like it. And then they just re redid their whole project on this new pitch with this, with this color changing straw.
Alex:But then you write that, you know, the kind of business that has come out of this that is now trying to make these straws isn't actually that class project group. It's something that one of them has pursued on their own.
Anna:Yeah. Yeah. So, Jack Rushlow, one of the cofounders, his, team didn't continue with the idea. They just kinda left it with the class. But one of his childhood friends that he's known forever and has also, kind of entrepreneurship, mindset decided that they two together could actually make this into a product.
Anna:So they became partners and cofounders.
Alex:And so then how do these, you know, you have two industrious, students that are interested in making some sort of straw that, like, changes colors. But, obviously, that's, like, something they have to do chemically and scientifically. How do they make that a reality? Because you're you're told that they have, like, some sort of prototype that or working on a prototype that'll actually, like, do this in practice.
Anna:Yeah. So this is also pretty interesting because, the childhood friend that Jack Rocheleau decided to add on to his, idea here, Zachary. He was supply chain management, but he took supply chain through engineering, which I think he told me does not you can't do that at MSU anymore. But when he, like, started, he was able to do it that way. And through the engineering college, he was able to take a lot of science classes.
Anna:So 304 level, like, chemistry classes and such like that. Mhmm. So through taking those classes, he kinda knew that this chemical was probably possible, but he wasn't sure that it was. But, that's kind of where it came from was he was like, I think that my chemistry has gotten
Alex:it out. With a little bit of a background understanding just to know that it's, like, a possibility even if he couldn't do it himself.
Anna:Yes. Yeah. So they they had a, they outsourced for a third party.
Alex:So they hired someone to actually, like, synthesize, like, this chemical.
Anna:Yes.
Alex:Because the concept is, like, I guess, you have this straw that you can bring with you, and if you put it in a drink, it'll just, like, change color if any of these, like, date rape drugs are are detected.
Anna:Yes. Yeah. It changes from yellow to red.
Alex:And is there some sort of, like I I assume if they wanna, like, market this, sell this, there's some sort of, like, regulatory involvement for, like, claiming this is gonna keep you safe from certain kind of drugs. I mean, did they have some sort of, like, data or assurance? Have they gone through some sort of process to be able to say that, like, this thing they've invented actually works?
Anna:Yeah. So the cofounder, Zach, he told me that the lab that they're working with through MSU has to be DEA certified to even do the testing that they're doing, and they are. And once they actually get the prototype from that lab, they, themselves are gonna have to be DEA certified.
Alex:And they'll test it more so they could make some sort of assurance that it's, like, effective.
Anna:Yes.
Alex:I see. So then how do they plan you know, I assume that they told you, like, they're getting close to some sort of, like, actual working model and, like, they they'll feel like it's effective. How who do they plan to sell it to? Are are individuals gonna buy it? Do they wanna sell it to to bars?
Alex:How are people gonna, you know, use this?
Anna:Yeah. So, they do expect to have their first prototype by the end of the month. And then after testing, they wanna sell it to bars. It is a single use bars. It is a single use straw, not like a reusable.
Anna:So rather than selling it to people to, like, bring around with them, it's more of, like, sell it to the bars, you know, where the most vulnerable vulnerable population is spending their time. And
Alex:So bars with, like, served drinks with it?
Anna:Yes. Yeah.
Alex:Or at
Anna:least they would have the option of having the straw to use in your drink. And then they have a couple of intent to buy letters from bars in East Lansing.
Alex:Oh, really?
Anna:I don't know which specific ones, but I know that they do have a couple of those. And they also want to include it in since college students are part of the vulnerable population to drink spiking, they wanna include it in the packages that you get when you first move into your dorms, especially when you look at the the age being 18 to 24. It's not just people that are going to be at the bar, but also those 18 to, you know, 20 year olds that are college students that might not even be going to the bar, they'll still have access to those straws, like, for,
Alex:you know, being We've talked before, in the 1999, but this idea of the red zone, which is this, like, that if you look at the statistics for, like, sexual violence amongst college students, like, almost, a hugely disproportionate amount of it happens in, like, the first two weeks of the school year or really the first week of the school year through Halloween when you have, like, new freshmen who are, you know, drinking for the first time, partying for the first time, putting themselves into these, like, situations that they might be unfamiliar with. So I think that's sort of an apt application, right, to, like, you know, have these your registration or what is I guess, orientation packets, you have a couple of these straws that you can use.
Anna:Yeah. And I think it's perfect because, you know, telling students, you know, not to drink is not gonna be the most productive thing to do here. But giving them something that will prevent them from being, you know, nonconsensually drugged is probably something that can actually help anyone that that wants to take a little bit of extra precaution when they are drinking.
Alex:It certainly I I think it embraces the kind of realities of the early college experience more so than just saying don't drink. But, yeah, well, that's all for this week. We'll be back next week with fresh reporting from the great minds here at State News. Until then, the story we discussed and plenty more are available @statenews.com. Thank you to my guest, Anna, our podcast coordinator, Taylor.
Alex:And most of all, thank you for listening. For the nineteen o nine, I'm Alex Walters.