ACTION ON DATE RAPE DRUG SHOULD BE SWIFT

The city council of Louisiana's largest city has taken action that
should be studied -- and used as a pattern -- by every governing body
in the state.

Responding to repeated expressions of public concern, the New Orleans
council voted unanimously to ban the so-called ''date-rape'' drug.
The ordinance prohibits the sale, manufacture, distribution or
possession of gamma butyrolactone, commonly known as GBL, in New Orleans.

The substance is sometimes promoted by manufacturers and sellers and
is billed as a sleep or body-building aid and is sold legally over the
counter in some health food stores. However, the stuff can cause
terrifying consequences.

A person who drinks a soda laced with a few drops of the colorless and
odorless drug can lose consciousness within 20 minutes. Victims
frequently have no memory of what happened, and the drug is difficult
to trace, often leaving the body within 24 hours.

It became known as the "date-rape" drug after men slipped the stuff
into a date's drink, then took advantage of their unconscious dates.

The substance can also be lethal.

Since 1990, there have been at least 32 deaths linked to the drug and
more than 3,500 overdoses, according to the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration. Hospital emergency visits related to use of the drug
increased nationally from 20 in 1992 to 629 in 1996, according to the
Drug Abuse Warning Network

Enforcement of the new law in New Orleans will be handled by the city
police department. The minimum fine for a first offense is $500.

Second offenses will result in $500 fines and a jail term of at least
30 days. Third offenses are punishable by $500 fines and at least 60
days in jail.

The ordinance allows judges to substitute community service, such as
youth counseling or grass-cutting, for jail time.

The city's ban follows a Jefferson Parish ordinance approved in August
after three 14-year-old girls who had taken the drug ended up in a
hospital emergency room. Officials said they were worried the
Jefferson Parish ban might send users across the parish line into New
Orleans.

Beyond the obvious value of the new ordinance, there is a lesson to be
learned here -- the value of professional advice from those who deal
directly with drug-related problems.

How many local governing bodies in Louisiana have special committees
that meet regularly with law enforcement officers, doctors,
prosecutors, court administrators and others directly involved in key
day-to-day matters of the community?

How many local governing bodies have established procedures for
gathering information on a continuing basis from all of these sources,
then compiling that information for the governing body to consider in
light of needed ordinances?

It would be fair, we believe, to say that the members of just about
every local governing body in Southwest Louisiana attempt to gather
information and keep abreast of events and circumstances that affect
the general public.

However, it would also be fair, we believe, to suggest that just about
every local governing body in the area might be able to find better
and more effective ways to gather, assimilate, study and act upon --
when necessary -- information arising from the day-to-day events that
affect the public.