'DATE RAPE' DRUG ABUSE IS ON RISE

Congress: Victims and law enforcement officials tell a House panel of the
prevalence of the substances.

Washington-Candace Pruett didn't know rohypnol had been slipped into
her soft drink and doesn't remember being raped three years ago at age
15.

The drug and assault were revealed by hospital tests after she was
found by police called by her distraught parents, the high school
senior from Northern Virginia told congressional investigators Thursday.

"The drug I was give unfortunately had robbed me of my memories of
what happened that nigh," Pruett said. "What my attacker did to me
also robbed me of my childhood. Going through a trial took away my
innocence and forced me to become a grown-up."

Such sexual assaults are only the most dramatic element of an
exploding problem with so-called "date rape drugs," witnesses told the
House Commerce sub-committee on oversight and investigations.

Law enforcement agents and public health officials said the drugs are
much more widely abused as a way to get high, despite the considerable
risks of users lapsing into a coma or dying.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has documented 32 deaths and more
than 3,500 over-doses since 1990 from just one of the drugs, gamma
hydroxybutyrate (GHB or "Georgia Home Boy"), said law enforcement
agencies, while busy combating the traditional drugs of abuse like
cocaine, marijuana and heroin, haven't kept up with "party" drugs such
as GHB, flunitrazepam (also known as Rohypnol("Special K").

The drugs have become favorites at "raves," where teenagers dance all
night, and at clubs catering to affluent young adults.

Ketamine, which is chemically akin to PCP, produces effects ranging
from dream-like states to delirium and hallucinations. GHB is an
intoxicant and euphoriant so powerful that users say a bottle-cap full
produces the "high" of 12 beers. Rohypnol is a "downer" belonging to
the same chemical family as Valium and is often taken in combination
with alcohol.

For computer-savvy kids, information on findings, using or making
these drugs is available with a couple of clicks of a mouse, the
witnesses said.

"GHB is truly the child of the Internet," testified Trinka Porata, a
private pharmaceutical consultant and former narcotics detective for
the Los Angeles Police Department. An assortment of Web sites claim
that the drug is safe and nonaddictive and provide directions on how
to make it.

"The truth is, GHB is dangerous, addictive and harder than heroin to
shake," Porata told the subcommittee. "GHB is the easiest drug on
Earth to make and the hardest drug to recognize."