INTERNET PLAYS A PART IN ESCALATING DRUG PROBLEM

The recipe for GHB is widely available on the internet, and has been
for years, making it accessible for young users, according to police
and leading researchers.

A search by The Sunday Age took less than 60 seconds to find
step-by-step instructions on how to make the dangerous drug. One
website even had two recipes on how to make GHB, or gamma
hydroxybutyrate. It listed the exact chemicals, equipment and dosages
needed to make the drug, with safety tips on handling the substances.

Inspector Steve James of the Victoria Police drug and alcohol strategy
unit, said that with importations of GHB becoming less common, home
production of the drug was on the rise.

He conceded that the internet also played a part in its illegal
manufacture. "It's not hard to get the recipe," he said. Inspector
James said the danger was that inexperienced people who tried to make
the drug could make mistakes and concoct lethal recipes.

Cameron Duff, director of research at the Australian Drug Foundation's
Centre for Youth Drug Studies, said that because GHB was sold in the
form of 1,4B, a cleaning fluid, the materials were not difficult to
obtain and put together. "I've been told that anyone with basic
undergraduate chemistry can manufacture it," he said.

Dr Duff said he knew of cases of medical students making GHB for
personal use by "finding chemicals from hospitals and basically
cooking up a batch".

Natalie Russell of RaveSafe said she believed "more people are making
the substance themselves and selling it themselves", because the
ingredients were easily obtained.

But John Davidson from volunteer group Enlighten did not believe the
chemicals were that accessible. He said "some people in certain
industries" were able to get hold of the materials, but believed it
would be difficult for young users who were not familiar with the drug.