Controlling GHB Use

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 2 of 2)

To curb GHB production, FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations has participated in numerous investigations and prosecutions related to the drug's illegal manufacture and distribution. So far, the government has won more than 33 GHB-related convictions.

Based on its abuse potential, at press time, Congress was considering GHB for "scheduling" under the Controlled Substances Act. If GHB is classified as a controlled substance, the act would set forth federal penalties, including imprisonment and fines, for marketing the drug illegally.

In addition to the extent of a drug's abuse potential, the decision whether to schedule a drug and how strictly to control it depends on factors such as:

The drug's capacity for producing physical and psychological dependence. GHB has been shown to cause addiction with sustained use. Withdrawal symptoms can include insomnia, muscle cramps, tremor, and anxiety.

Whether the drug has an accepted medical use. At press time, GHB was not approved for any use in the United States but was being studied to treat the symptoms of a sleep disorder called narcolepsy. In Europe, GHB has been used as an anesthetic and experimentally to treat alcohol withdrawal.

More than 20 states have already classified GHB as a controlled substance. And some other states impose criminal penalties for the drug's possession though they haven't scheduled it.

To truly fetter GHB use, however, experts emphasize that public education is needed to complement these legal actions. The National Institute on Drug Abuse is dedicating $54 million to a national campaign with partner organizations Join Together, National Families in Action, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America to alert teens, young adults, parents, educators, and others to the dangers of GHB and other club drugs.

Porrata, Anya Shortridge, and others hope that such legitimate public education will outweigh the often inaccurate information disseminated by individuals over the Internet. Internet authors who enjoy taking illegal drugs are not to be counted on for correct, unbiased information, Porrata points out.

As for the common Internet claim that a person who passes out from GHB will wake up in four hours, don't count on it. Anya pleads on her own Website, "If anyone you know has used GHB or any other substance and has passed out and is unarousable and/or having seizures: Call 911 immediately!"

Porrata offers this additional advice: Since even those who are near death from GHB use typically don't remember the experience, videotaping people when they're exhibiting dangerous symptoms may help convince them of the problem's seriousness.

Don't yet know of anyone who's been harmed by the so-called party drug? Count yourself lucky, says Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Like many dangerous habits, sometimes you can get away with it for a while. But then your number may come up."

Raising Consciousness About Drugs and Rape

Four males stand accused of manslaughter and poisoning in the January 1999 death of Michigan ninth-grader Samantha Reid. Aged 25, 18, 18, and 17, they were arraigned last March on charges that they slipped the "date-rape drug" GHB or the chemically related GBL into Reid's Mountain Dew at a party, causing her to vomit, go into a coma, and die. Two other girls survived being drugged at the Grosse Isle, Mich., party.

Poisoning carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and manslaughter a maximum of 15 years.

Despite the enactment of the 1996 Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act, which increased penalties for those who use drugs to help them commit a violent crime, the statistics on date-rape are daunting.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has received reports of at least 13 sexual assault cases said to involve GHB just since 1996. In response to a recent Glamour magazine survey, 19 percent of female college students questioned said they knew someone who was the victim of the date-rape drug GHB. The survey helps to confirm GHB's unfortunate standing as a common date-rape drug along with the infamous Rohypnol (flunitrazepam, better known as roofies) and others.

Experts recommend taking certain steps to protect yourself from being victimized:

• Watch your drink from the moment it's poured until you finish it to make sure no one slips a foreign substance into it.
• Don't share a drink with someone else or accept a drink from a punch bowl or other common source.
• Designate a nondrinking friend to make sure you don't appear unusually intoxicated or sick, and that you don't leave with someone under suspicious circumstances.

And if, upon waking up, you see signs that you may have been drugged and sexually assaulted, go the hospital immediately. Within a 12-hour window, the hospital will be able to test urine for GHB, which could make prosecuting the case easier.

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.