PA ATTORNEY GENERAL FISHER TESTIFIES BEFORE HEALTH DEPARTMENT BOARD

To Make New Date Rape Drug Illegal in Pennsylvania

Attorney General Mike Fisher will testify before the State Department
of Health's Drug, Device and Cosmetic Board at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan.
6, in Room 812 of the Health & Welfare Building in Harrisburg. Fisher
will urge the board to make the new date rape drug GHB illegal in
Pennsylvania.

In September 1998, Fisher petitioned the board to add GHB or "Liquid X
" to the list of Schedule I controlled substances, allowing state and
local law enforcement agencies to crack down on its use. Currently,
GHB is unregulated by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and
the Commonwealth as a controlled substance.

Fisher urged the Health Department to act on his petition after
several college students, including two at Penn State University,
nearly died from ingesting the drug.

As of December 1998, 11 states have made GHB a Schedule I controlled
substance.

Media coverage is welcome. CONTACT: Barbara Petito, Deputy Press
Secretary of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General,
717-787-5211, or home, 717-236- 6264. SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of
Attorney General