OVERDOSES EMPHASIZE DRUG'S DANGERS

Judi Clark, a single mother from Rockwood, Mich., had never heard of
GHB until it killed her 15-year-old daughter.

Now she's an expert.

"When they told me they suspected GHB in her death, I had to ask what
it was because I had no clue," said Clark, 39, whose daughter,
Samantha Reid, was killed in 1999 after party-goers slipped the drug
into her Mountain Dew. "Everybody was questioning what GHB was. The
police didn't know. The fire departments didn't know. Nobody knew
about GHB."

Reid's death - and the convictions of four Michigan men who drugged
her and her friend - heightened the nation's awareness of GHB and
spurred lawmakers to make it illegal.

But it was not until last week, when three Putnam County teen-agers
were hospitalized after GHB overdoses, that the so-called "date-rape"
drug made headlines in Westchester or Putnam counties.

"These overdoses illustrate what everybody should know about GHB -
it's a really nasty drug," said Dr. John Wallace, director of
alcoholism and substance-abuse services at St. Vincent's Hospital in
Harrison.

GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate, is a powerful central nervous system
depressant that comes in a clear, odorless liquid and tastes salty.

Sold for decades as a bodybuilding supplement and sleep aid, the drug
more recently gained notoriety as something that could incapacitate
women through a laced drink.

Far more common, authorities say, is use of GHB among young people as
a recreational or club drug. A $5 cap of the liquid - which is mixed
often with Gatorade, fruit juices or soda - produces a euphoric,
mellowing effect that lasts a few hours and gives no hangover.

Street names include "Georgia homeboy," "grievous bodily harm,"
"nature's Quaalude" and "liquid Ecstasy."

The active chemicals in GHB most commonly are used in industrial
solvents, although it continues to be sold on Web sites that tout the
drug as an automotive lubricant, computer cleaner, aphrodisiac, sleep
aid and nutritional supplement, said Chris Sannerud, a pharmacologist
with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"We're calling it an Internet drug," said Jerry Frankenheim of the
National Institutes on Drug Abuse, which is set to begin a $2 million
study of GHB. "People are marketing this stuff semi-legally over the
Web. It's a sophisticated way to sell drugs, and it's dangerous."

Frankenheim said the drug was dangerous and unpredictable for many reasons:

* GHB most commonly is taken in liquid form, so the potency is
usually a mystery to the user.

* GHB accumulates rapidly with small increases in dosage, making it
harder for the body to process the drug and increasing the chances
for overdose.

* GHB interacts with alcohol to produce a dangerous, synergistic effect.

* It is a highly addictive drug. There has been one reported fatality
from withdrawal symptoms alone.

* GHB regularly induces seizures, coma and vomiting, a combination
that can easily turn lethal.

"This drug produces a very steep coma, and users are really cavalier
about that," Frankenheim said. "They think you can just sleep it off,
but if you aspirate your own vomit, then you'll stop breathing. They
don't realize how close they are to death."

Samantha Reid was left unconscious for several hours on a bathroom
floor after her soda was spiked. By the time she was taken to the
hospital, vomit had filled her lungs and doctors could not save her.

More than 70 GHB-related deaths have been reported nationwide, but
experts said that was most likely an underestimate because there was
no easy way to test for GHB levels in the body, and emergency-room
doctors were not trained to look for it until recently.

Basketball star Tom Gugliotta of the Minnesota Timberwolves collapsed
and nearly died in 1999 after taking GHB as a sleep aid.

New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza lost a close friend who was his
personal trainer last year to suicide in what the man's family called
a losing battle with GHB addiction.

In response to public outcry over Samantha Reid's death, Congress
banned the substance in April 2000. The DEA now classifies the drug
in the same category as heroin and Ecstasy.

The chemicals used to make GHB - gamma butylactone (GBL) and 1,4-
butanediol - still are manufactured for industrial purposes but are
regulated by the federal government.

In addition to her job as a pipe-fitter, Judi Clark is now one of the
nation's most outspoken crusaders against GHB.

She runs the Samantha Reid Foundation (www.GHBkills.com) to educate
people about the dangers of GHB.

"Samantha paid the ultimate price to bring awareness about a drug
that's been killing people for years," Clark said. "She basically
sacrificed her life - unknowingly - so that others could learn the
truth about GHB."