NET DRUG LIKELY LED TO MAN'S DEATH, SOME SAY

TAMPA - A chemical sold over the Internet as a dietary supplement may
have claimed another life.

Twenty-one-year-old Brian Banes was checking his e-mail and listening
to music when his parents went to bed Tuesday night.

At 3 a.m., a few hours later, his father got out of bed to turn off a
light. He found his only child dead in the bathroom.

"He must have gone in the blink of an eye," Howard Banes said. "It was
so quick."

Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives are investigating Brian's
death, trying to determine whether a drug sold on the Internet killed
him.

At least two of Brian's friends said he used BD, 1,4 butanediol, hours
before his death. BD is one of a group of chemicals sold as muscle
builders, aphrodisiacs or sleep aids.

Known as party drugs, BD, GHB and GBL affect the central nervous
system, lowering the heart and breathing rates. They can cause
vomiting, seizures, unconsciousness, coma and death.

"It's very, very common on the streets right now," said Russ Robinson,
26. "It amplifies the effect of other drugs. It's like being
intoxicated."

The federal Food and Drug Administration banned GHB, gamma hydroxy
butyric, in 1990, so some companies switched to GBL, gamma
butyrolactone, Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug
Evaluation and Research, said last year. After warnings were issued
about GBL in May 1999, companies switched to BD, which has dual
qualities as a stimulant and sedative.

None can be legally sold as a drug in the United States. BD is sold as
an industrial solvent

Still, some companies are putting them - particularly BD - in their
products and marketing them as dietary supplements, according to the
FDA.

"There are a lot of dangerous chemicals you can buy on the Internet"
said Douglas Tolen, the FDA's Florida director for 14 years until
earlier this year.

"As soon as you get rid of one company, five more pop up," Tolen said.
"There is always someone trying to make a buck."

IN FLORIDA, at least 19 people have died of GHB in the past three
years, according to state officials.

In May 1999, Troy Perry, 37, of Largo died after overdosing on GHB at
a party, according to Pinellas sheriff's deputies. A Palm Harbor man
was charged with manslaughter, accused of giving Perry the drug.

Many others looking for a high have been left comatose for
days.

Florida Drug Control Policy spokesman Tim Bottcher said this month
that the situation with party drugs, such as Ecstasy and others, is at
a crisis level, and that at least 72 people in Florida have died from
them during the past three years.

Woodcock said, "People may be buying,these products thinking they are
harmless natural remedies, but they're buying paint thinner.

Nationally, more than 5,700 people overdosed on GHB, GEL and related
compounds last year. GHB has been linked to about 60 deaths nationwide
since 1990.

Hanna Banes said she had no idea her son, a Tampa Catholic graduate
and computer technician for Groupware International, was using BD.

He seemed perfectly healthy hours before his death, his father
said.

Robinson and Nick Hage, Brian's former roommates, said they spoke out
about BD to warn others.

"THIS IS A CHEMICAL that's obviously very dangerous," Robinson said.
"If death can be the result, then people need to know about it"

Hanna Banes said she is awaiting toxicology results, which can take
months, for answers.

"None of us know at this point exactly how he died," she
said.

Robinson and Hage said Brian, whose nickname was "Brains," was a good
guy.

"He was very cheerful, always had a grin on his face," Robinson
said.

Hage, who had been friends with Brian since fourth grade, said: "He
was a thinker. He was always trying to invent something."

Brian's family and friends will say goodbye to him at a 9 a.m. funeral
service Monday at Temple Terrace Presbyterian Church.

Robinson and Hage will be two of the nine pallbearers.

Arrangements are being handled by C.E. Prevatt Funeral Home, Temple
Terrace.