GHB IS DANGEROUS STUFF

I was unsettled by Daniel Mintz's "feature" story on the GHB bust last
week. The reason I use the term "feature" is for his opinion comments like
a "whopping $500,000 bail" and "That's not good news for a rave scene that
had been slow to catch on in this rural county but is gaining momentum now."

Hard news reporting has become a thing of the past. Perhaps reporting the
risks of taking GHB is as newsworthy as reporting its possible pleasurable
effects, its use at rave parties and the behavior of the FBI and Drug Task
Force.

GHB (1,4-butanediol, liquid X or "grievous bodily harm") claimed its first
fatality here in New Zealand. The victim, the son of a doctor and a third
year engineering student, was keen on fitness and living the healthy
lifestyle. He had taken one dose, gone into a coma and his brain died while
his mates thought he was sleeping it off. It wasn't until he turned blue
that someone called an ambulance. His girlfriend also overdosed that night
but lived. There was no forensic evidence that he mixed GHB with alcohol or
other drugs that night.

New Zealand emergency rooms have reported 90 overdoses in the last year
(the nation's population is about 3.4 million). Ravers have been admitted
in coma, unconscious and/or post-seizure states.

The drug is currently legal here (for the moment) and is marketed as a
totally safe alternate to alcohol, sort of a "smart" drug. Marketers tout
that it helps promote lean body mass, is a sexual enhancer (assuming you
don't go into a coma and your brain dies) and helps prevent baldness --
real snake oil. However some suppliers aren't so sure and sell it as a
solvent: "CD head cleaner -- not for human consumption."

How smart is using a drug that was used for surgical anesthesia in the '70s
but was abandoned because it was unpredictable from patient to patient from
day to day? Consider that surgical anesthesia is used to put people in such
a deep state of unconsciousness that a surgeon can cut into your flesh and
remove organs without waking you.

Knowing these risks should put a new slant on last week's story for the
uninitiated.

Frankly I was surprised that such a story would be published in the Eye
without stating any risks of GHB. How many kids might want to try it after
reading your story without undertaking further research? I think back to
when I was 18 and immortal.

Dr. Davis, the MHM user, must have some comments.

Party on dude, but be safe.

Regards,
John Higginbotham
Nelson, New Zealand