POLICE WATCH FOR USE OF "CLUB DRUG"

Greenwich Police say that while no arrests or overdoses have been reported
in association with the "club drug" known as "Liquid X," officers say they
are aware of the drug's prevalence in nearby communities and possible use
by young adults in town.

On Tuesday, following an urgent request by the commissioner of the state
Department of Consumer Protection, GHB (gamma-hydroxy butyric acid) and its
chemical precursor, GBL (gamma-butyolactone), were classified as Schedule
IV controlled drugs upon approval of a request by Gov. John Rowland. In
sanctioning the emergency regulations, by which anyone possessing or
selling the drugs can be charged with a criminal misdemeanor or felony,
respectively, GHB and GBL are now legally controlled substances, according
to DCP Commissioner James Fleming.

In a statement released Wednesday, Fleming said the department has never
before requested emergency regulations for a drug. Although GHB is
classified as a dangerous drug, Fleming said a 1998 U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency report found no pattern of overdoses, deaths or sexual assaults
related to GHB in Connecticut.

In the last few months, all that has changed. A 20-year-old East Lyme man
died April 4 as a result of mixing alcohol and GHB. In June, three
teenagers were admitted to Danbury Hospital with GHB-related overdoses. In
a phone interview Thursday, Bill Ward, director of the Drug Control
Division of the state Department of Consumer Protection, said these
incidents were reason enough for Rowland to sign off on the emergency
regulations, which went into effect Tuesday.

"This was one of those times we couldn't wait for the normal regulatory
process to unwind," Fleming said in his statement. In his letter to
Rowland, Fleming said the drugs pose "an imminent danger to the health and
public welfare of the citizens of the state of Connecticut."

GHB and its chemical forerunner, GBL, have gained national attention as
"party drugs" because of their ability to produce almost immediate "highs,"
and as "date rape" drugs because the user falls into a deep sleep soon
after ingestion. This depression of the nervous system, Ward noted, is
intensified with the use of alcohol, so much so that it can produce coma
and, as it did in the case of the East Lyme man, death.

Greenwich Youth Officer Steve Paulo said that while no incidents related to
GHB have occurred in Greenwich, he said he has heard of the drug's use at
town parties, as well as after-hours clubs in Stamford and Port Chester, N.Y.

"We haven't had any cases reported here, but some of our information says
there's a lot of it out there," Paulo said. "There's no cases where we can
say kids are using it here in town yet. What we hear is that there are some
parties out there where it's being used, but we haven't had anything where
anyone has been taken to the hospital or arrested."

GHB and GBL are not approved for medicinal use by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, Ward said. Unlike cocaine, which Ward said has established
medicinal uses, the FDA has said the two chemicals have no medicinal
benefits2E The products, available in liquid and powder, have been sold as
dietary supplements in health food stores and gyms - for use as a
muscle-builder - and via the Internet. The approval of the Department of
Consumer Protection's request for "emergency regulations" makes Connecticut
the 24th state to outlaw the sale or possession of GHB, Ward said, and the
third to pass a direct resolution against GBL, which metabolizes into GHB
when ingested or mixed with sodium hydroxide.

Ward said a 1-liter container of either GHB or GBL sells for between $40
and $50. Dosage normally starts at a tablespoon, he said, but said users
are prone to overdose since most manufacturers do not affix instructions to
the containers.

In 1991, the FDA banned the sale of food products containing GHB, and
issued warnings about its use in 1997 and again this year. Fleming said
that in May the DEA reported 3,500 GHB-related overdoses and 32 deaths
nationwide.

"It's one of those things: it's hard to arrest people for, unless you
actually catch them with it on them, or they admit they have it." Paulo
said. "That's why is so very hard to enforce."