DEALERS IN 'DATE RAPE' DRUG SAFE FROM TRAFFICKING CHARGES

A Quirk Of The State Law Frustrates Prosecutors And Police Officers Alike

LINCOLNTON - Lincolnton Police were unable to consider charging a county
social worker indicted last month on charges of selling the "date rape"
drug GHB on trafficking charges in part because the drug doesn't fall under
state drug-trafficking statutes, according to police and prosecutors.

Jaie Warlick, 30, surrendered to police Feb. 24 after being indicted on one
count each of possession with intent to sell and deliver a Schedule I
controlled substance, possession to sell and deliver a counterfeit
substance, and to sell or deliver a counterfeit controlled substance,
according to police.

He still is being prosecuted on those charges, but cannot be charged with a
more serious drug-trafficking violation, said Lincoln police Lt. Dean
Abernathy. Trafficking means dealing in volume.

Warlick, who resigned from the Lincoln County Department of Social Services
on Wednesday, is accused of selling GHB in its liquid form on two occasions
in bars last summer, Abernathy said.

Each time, police bought 48 grams of the drug, or about 1.7 ounces, for
$80, Abernathy said. One dose of the drug would fill a soda bottle cap, he
said.

Warlick declined to comment.

GHB, which can render a person unconscious or unable to resist or remember
a sexual assault, is classified the same as heroin for law-enforcement
purposes. Someone attempting to sell small amounts of heroin faces the same
penalties as someone attempting to sell GHB -- three to 30 months in prison.

A person charged with trafficking four to 14 grams of heroin faces a
mandatory sentence of six to eight years in prison and a $50,000 fine. As
the amount of heroin a person is caught with increases, so do the penalties.

But that is not the case with GHB.

"You will get no more time in jail for selling five gallons of it (than) a
person who sold one dosage unit," said Rick Shaffer, an assistant district
attorney who prosecutes felony drug cases in Lincoln County.

"Given what the possible consequences are, I think it is just as dangerous
if not more so than some of the other drugs the legislature has put forth a
trafficking statute on," Shaffer said.

The sentence a person receives on a trafficking charge can be reduced,
Shaffer said, if they cooperate with authorities.

"It's leverage for law enforcement officers when they get the lower level
people to work their way up the chain and get the bigger fish," Shaffer
said. "The cooperation of individuals in narcotics cases is a very valuable
tool in investigations."

Lincolnton police started to see the GHB in health and fitness clubs two to
three years ago, Abernathy said.

"In the past, the weight lifters used it for body building," Abernathy
said. "It's apparently some kind of enhancement, like a steroid."

Weight lifters would mix the drug in their water bottles and drink it while
working out, Abernathy said.

The drug is now showing up at nightclubs and bars, Abernathy said, and
informants and intelligence indicate it is getting easier to buy.

"We're seeing a lot more of it," Abernathy said. "This stuff showed up on
us all of a sudden and we didn't realize we had it. We were concentrating
on cocaine and methamphetamine. It's something that we are going to focus
more on."

A law making GHB illegal was passed by the General Assembly in 1997, said
Susan Sitze, a staff attorney with the legislature's research division.

The penalties for possessing and selling GHB increased when the drug was
re-classified at a higher level by the state in 2000.

The legislature did not include a trafficking charge on either occasion.

Frank Parrish, a vice president with the N.C. Association of District
Attorneys, said he has not been told by other prosecutors that the absence
of a trafficking charge for GHB is a problem. Parrish said he does not know
why a trafficking charge has not been included when the drug was made illegal.

"It may not have come on to someone's radar," Parrish said. "Sometimes it's
as simple as that."

About GHB

Gamma hydroxybutyric acid

Street names: Liquid Ecstasy, scoop, easy lay, Georgia home boy, grievous
bodily harm, Liquid X and Goop.

Form: An odorless, colorless liquid, or a white powder. Is usually mixed
into a drink.

Users: Teens and young adults at dance clubs and raves. Also body builders
seeking its supposed anabolic effects.

Production: GHB is easy to manufacture, so local producers usually handle
distribution.

SOURCE: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration