POLICE SCHOOLED ON DESIGNER DRUG

Daylong Seminar In San Jose Addresses Dangers Of GHB

It's been two years since a 25- year-old Contra Costa County man died in
his sleep after drinking a designer drug that's growing in popularity.

Jeffery Fraga and his friends chugged beer and Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate
(GHB), a salty clear liquid that causes a euphoric feeling. Then Fraga
passed out. His friends figured he was drunk and carried him into a bedroom
to sleep it off. But he never woke up.

Officials say GHB, which has earned the street name ``great bodily harm,''
was the cause of Fraga's death. He and two others, from Orange County, are
the only official casualties of the drug in California, according to
police. But investigators believe there may be many more who have died from
GHB, but traces of the drug went undetected. They also believe that the
substance has been used in date rapes.

To address these problems, nearly 100 local law enforcement officials and
nurses crowded into an auditorium in San Jose yesterday for a daylong
seminar on how officers can detect whether someone is under the influence
of GHB and what to do if someone is. Officials from the Los Angeles Police
Department, Drug Enforcement Agency and the San Francisco Poison Control
Center talked about the deadly drug. The forum was hosted by the Santa
Clara County Sheriff's Department.

GHB is a behavioral central nervous system depressant that was originally
used by bodybuilders who believed it would stimulate their production of
growth hormones, according to the Food and Drug Administration. It's now
the drug of choice on the Los Angeles party scene and is widely used from
San Francisco to San Diego, according to police. GHB overdoses have also
been reported in Florida and Texas.

``We don't want Santa Clara County to become another Los Angeles or
Miami,'' said Sheriff's spokeswoman Nancy Csabanyi.

There has been 105 GHB overdoses in the Bay Area during 1997, said Jo Ellen
Dyer, of poison control. But Santa Clara County has not reported any,
Csabanyi said.

``It may just be that we didn't know what to look for,'' she said. ``We're
hoping today will give us better knowledge of what the drug is about.''

This year possession of the substance was outlawed. But before 1990, when
the FDA banned its sale, GHB was sold over the counter in vitamin stores.
Now, people make the substance in large pots by mixing such ingredients as
gamma butyl lactone and drain cleaner, said Los Angeles narcotics Detective
Trinka Porrata. It's odorless and is usually mixed with Gatorade, she said.

``The single most unique and terrifying thing about this drug is simply its
unpredictable nature,'' she said. ``While one person may use it for a long
period of time and perhaps in high doses, the next person may die from a
single dose.''

Fortunately, say police, the drug's salty taste can act as a warning to
people who have had the substance dropped into their drinks.

``After today we'll be telling women not to leave their drinks alone when
they're in a bar,'' Csabanyi said. ``And if they feel woozy they should
immediately ask for help.''

©1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A22