GIRL, 5, FALLS ILL AFTER DRINKING DATE-RAPE DRUG

Second Vancouver Child in Two Years Sips From Father's Container of GHB

VANCOUVER -- A second Vancouver child in less than two years is in
hospital after drinking the so-called date-rape drug.

The five-year-old girl is recuperating at B.C. Children's Hospital
after finding what she thought was a bottle of water in her father's
freezer.

The clear liquid turned out to be GHB.

In December of 2004, a three-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital
after she drank from her father's water bottle. It contained GHB, a
substance often used to drug unsuspecting women who are then sexually
assaulted. The girl slipped into a coma and stopped breathing, but
paramedics revived her on the way to the hospital.

Constable Howard Chow of the Vancouver Police Department said despite
the similarity in the girls' ages and almost identical circumstances,
the two incidents involved different families and were not connected.

The latest incident happened Wednesday afternoon when the
five-year-old, who was in serious condition when she was rushed to
hospital about 7 p.m., told her father she was thirsty and went to the
fridge for some water.

When she later complained that it tasted soapy, her father realized
she had ingested GHB that he had been keeping in the freezer.

Constable Chow said the father tried to rinse the girl's mouth with
water and then let her nap for about 90 minutes.

When he tried to rouse her, she did not wake up and was limp. He
called 911.

GHB is tasteless and odorless and causes symptoms that resemble
excessive alcohol consumption, such as tipsiness or memory loss, if
consumed in large quantities. It is also used as a recreational drug.

Because the drug remains in the body for only six to eight hours,
criminal investigations into its use are difficult to conduct,
Constable Chow said.

There have been only two recorded cases in Canada in which the use of
GHB has led to criminal charges.

In 2004, the three-year-old girl who drank GHB found the bottle of
liquid that her father had brought home from a party the night before.

The father, who cannot be named to protect the girl's identity, was
charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

He was put on a year's probation and forbidden by the judge, who gave
him a conditional discharge, to drink alcohol or ingest illegal drugs
in the vicinity of his daughter.

Constable Chow said yesterday that the father in the latest incident
is under investigation. No charges have been laid.

The Ministry of Children and Families is involved and is looking into
whether a child-protection investigation is needed in the case.

The girl is in stable condition and the prognosis is good, Constable
Chow said.