New date-rape drug not on UA campus, officials say

Graph and information courtesy of erowid.org/entheogens/ghb/ghb_effects.shtml This graph shows the effects of GHB if used normally. The onset lasts from 10-20 minutes, coming up lasts between 15-30 minutes and the plateau takes 45 minutes to one and a half hours. Coming down takes 15-30 minutes, and the after effects from taking GHB last 2-4 hours.

University Police and other officials say the newest date-rape drug hitting campuses nationwide has not made it to the UA, but poison control officials would not back that up.

Jude McNally, assistant director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, said about 12 cases of GHB, the clear, liquid date-rape drug, are reported in the Tucson area each year.

"Most calls were from young adults, in an age group consistent with college students," he said, adding that the center does not ask for that kind of information.

But UA Police Lieutenant Brian Seastone and Assistant Dean of Students Veda Hunn say the new drug has not cropped up on the University of Arizona campus.

"There have been no reported cases of GHB or any drugs similar on [the UA] campus," Seastone said.

Hunn also said no incidents involving GHB, technically know as Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, have occurred on campus, but that doesn't mean the drug is not here.

"There have been few reports of sexual assault on campus, and none involving GHB. Just because there are no reports of it, doesn't mean it hasn't happened," she said. "Many victims are scared or embarrassed, and don't report the crimes."

The University of Colorado's newspaper, Campus Press, recently reported high levels of GHB in an alleged rape victim's lab results.

Graph and information courtesy of erowid.org/entheogens/ghb/ghb_effects.shtml This is ball and stick model of the chemical compound GHB, which has been used as a natural sedative but is now being used as a date-rape drug. This drug, even at low doses, causes the same effects as drinking multiple drinks; at high doses, which can be as little as 2 grams, it can send people into a coma-like state.

"It can cause dangerous cardiac effects, and it can drop a person's blood pressure," he said. "It can certainly lessen resistance."

Part of the danger of the drug is the difficulty to detect the substance in drinks. A slip of the wrist, and the slightly salty substance can cause comas and seizures.

GHB was originally sold over-the-counter for a number of uses until abuse of the drug surfaced in the early 1990s. The Federal Drug Administration yanked GHB from pharmacy shelves after numerous reports of overdoses in 1991.

"At first, GHB was showing up in gyms - athletes were using it for body enhancing purposes," McNally said. "Then it started showing up in the night club scene because of its euphoric effects."

An Internet search turns up numerous sites to purchase kits for the drug, at about $100 each. Some Web pages offer instructions on how to make the drug, and others contain easy online order forms to have the ingredients sent to whomever wants to make the drug.