CONGRESS TARGETING DATE RAPE POTION

WASHINGTON - Congress appears ready to outlaw an increasingly popular drug
linked to numerous deaths and instances of "date rape."

GHB, short for gamma hydroxybutyrate, is a clandestinely produced substance
that has been linked to at least 32 deaths, 3,500 overdoses and 22 sexual
assaults over the last five years, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Federal officials add that reported hospital emergency room visits
associated with the colorless, odorless, almost tasteless GHB have
skyrocketed from one in 1991 to 629 in 1996, the last year of available data.

Just last month, eight suspected cases of GHB overdoses were reported over
one weekend at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, alarming
doctors and community officials.

"The continued abuse and trafficking of GHB are of grave concern to the
DEA," said Terrance Woodworth, DEA's deputy director.

Although 21 states have outlawed GHB, a federal law would make it far
easier to obtain convictions, especially against those who distribute it
through the Internet, anti-drug officials say.

To address the situation, the U.S. House recently passed legislation,
423-1, to put GHB on the list of the most strictly regulated drugs - such
as heroin and cocaine - under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

The legislation, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R.,Mich.) would make it
illegal to possess GHB with the intent to manufacture or distribute it.

Convictions would carry a prison term of up to 20 years.

The House measure includes an exception for federally approved clinical
studies of GHB, which may offer life-saving relief to those suffering from
narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder.

Similar legislation, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham (R., Mich.) is
pending in the Senate.

Because Congress is winding down for the year, the Senate bill may not be
passed until early next year, but Senator Abraham's staffers expect it to
be quickly approved at that point.

Senator Abraham and Congressman Upton were spurred to act on the issue by
the January death of 15-year-old Samantha Reid, who died at a Gross Ile,
Mich., party after drinking a soda officials believe was laced with GHB.

Although the congressional hearings and debate have emphasized the use of
GHB as a drug used by sexual predators to immobilize their victims, the
increased general use of the drug by young people as a new way to get high
is actually a bigger problem, law enforcement officials say.

GHB is a highly addictive, simple combination of gamma butryrolactone
(GBL), an industrial solvent used by manufacturers of paints, beers and
electronics, and sodium hydroxide, or lye.

It is used as a "party drug" by young people, who like its quick, euphoric
high. Internet sites offer instructions on how to make the drug, which is
easily mixed in bathtubs or punch bowls or just dropped into drinks at
parties.

Female users like it as a no-calorie substitute for the effects of alcohol,
while body builders use it as a way of building muscle, despite warnings by
the federal officials that such claims are unsubstantiated.

Of the GHB-associated hospital emergency room reports through 1996, most
involved white males - most of the patients were between the ages of 18-34
- - and most were using the drug to get high, according to Stephen Zukin,
director of clinical and services research at the National Institutes of
Health.

In an overdose case, just a few drops of GHB in a glass of soda or alcohol
can render a person unconscious in 20 minutes, or put someone in a profound
coma within 30 to 40 minutes, experts say.

If left untreated, the victim could die, yet some Internet instructions for
using GHB advise letting the drug user "sleep it off" unless drugs or
alcohol have also been ingested, law enforcement officials note.

GHB also can cause extreme vomiting, slowed or stopped breathing,
incontinence, and seizure-like conditions.

It's not always possible to predict GHB's effects in advance, drug experts
say, noting that some people can tolerate the drug one time and then
overdose the next.

Because the drug leaves the system quickly, it's virtually impossible to
detect within 4 to 12 hours after it is ingested. In addition, many law
enforcement officials and hospital emergency room staff members don't yet
know to test for it, experts say.

"The number of cases in which GHB has been used to facilitate sexual
assault is impossible to determine; many such cases may go unreported or
unsubstantiated because of the difficulty of detecting its use," Mr.
Woodworth says.

"GHB is quickly eliminated from the body, making detection in body fluids
unlikely. In addition, GHB's fast onset of depressant effects and its
amnesiac effect render victims unable to recall the details of the attack."

Now, law enforcement officials say there is a new problem related to GHB.
Drug abusers have discovered that they don't even have to mix up a batch of
GHB to get high.

Instead, they've learned that GBL, one of the ingredients in GHB, is
naturally converted in the body to GHB. So they now take GBL straight,
officials said.

Federal lawmakers have attempted to combat this new problem by including
GHB's chemical cousins, such as GBL, in the proposed legislation.

Senator Abraham says he still hopes to get the legislation passed in the
Senate this year.