'PARTY' DRUG CLAIMS A VICTIM

A party drug known as GHB, which gives users a quick high but can lead to
coma and death, has claimed its first victim in Connecticut. The state
medical examiner's office this week determined that Andrew W. Hayes, 20, of
East Lyme, died April 4 of the effects of combining GHB with alcohol after
at a night of drinking with friends in Niantic.

East Lyme police said they were investigating the death.

State officials said abuse of GHB, a clear liquid, does not seem as
widespread in Connecticut as in other states, though that could change.

"Because of its Internet availability, there is clearly the potential for it
to become a significant problem here," said Bill Ward, drug division
director for the state Department of Consumer Protection.

With street names like Liquid X, Gamma-OH and Grievous Bodily Harm, GHB, or
gamma hydroxybutyrate, has become popular among young teens and high school
students in some parts of the country. It produces feelings of intense
intoxication and euphoria, and often hallucinations.

Also known as one of the "date rape" drugs, GHB can be slipped into a drink
without the drinker's knowledge. As little as 2 tablespoons can quickly put
a user into a deep sleep for several hours.

When combined with alcohol, though, it can cause seizures and lead to coma
and death.

"It's bad stuff," said Dr. Wayne Carver, the state's chief medical examiner.
"There is tremendous abuse potential because it works so quickly."

Once taken, the drug almost immediately produces a high. As the high begins
to wane, the user falls into deep sleep. When taken with alcohol, GHB acts
as a respiratory suppressant, Carver said, meaning that it works on the part
of the brain that controls the nervous system and regulates basic bodily
functions, including breathing.

Users may also become belligerent or violent and experience nausea or vomiting.

GHB was first used in Europe during the 1950s as an anesthetic but was
abandoned after safer drugs with fewer side effects became available.

It gained popularity in the late '80s and early '90s among body builders as
a replacement for anabolic steroids, because the drug supposedly stimulates
growth hormones. For a time, it also was sold in health food stores as a
sleep aid known as Serenity.

The Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of food products containing
GHB in 1991. It reissued a warning about the drug in 1997, when reports of
its recreational use began to surface and it was implicated in incidents of
date rape. (A drink laced with GHB may have a salty taste to it.)

The FDA again issued warnings about the drug last week, saying three deaths
among young people nationwide were linked to the recreational use of GHB.

On the Internet, the products have names like Invigorate, Blue Nitro,
Enliven, SomatoPro, Thunder Nectar and GHRE. Hayes, of East Lyme, is
believed to have taken Invigorate with alcohol before his death, the state
medical examiner said. Investigators said at the time that he was given the
substance by another patron at a bar.

In some parts of the country, such as Georgia, authorities believe the drug
is being manufactured in home laboratories. Though the chemical is usually
clear, food coloring is often added to disguise its identity. On the street,
a capful, or "swig," sells for about $10. Over the Internet, it sells for
about $95 for 32 ounces.

The FDA said companies are selling new varieties of the chemicals in the
guise of dietary supplements.

Clandestine manufacture of GHB begins with a chemically similar product,
gamma butyrolactone (GBL), an industrial solvent commonly found in many
household products. When taken internally, the body converts GBL to GHB.

The FDA has also issued warnings about another GBL/GBH-related chemical
called 1,4 butanediol (BD).

Despite its dangers, GHB is not a controlled substance and is not illegal to
possess in Connecticut, said state police Det. Orlando C. Mo of the
Statewide Narcotics Task Force. Rhode Island, California, Georgia, North
Carolina, Hawaii and Alaska have made it a crime to possess the substance.

"It has been a significant problem nationally, though so far not in
Connecticut," said Ward of the Connecticut consumer protection office,
adding that information about the drug seems to spread by word of mouth.

In this state, GHB users appear to be getting the drug from friends in other
states, or by purchasing it on the Internet, he said.