DATE RAPE DRUG WARNING GIVEN

Kelowna RCMP is warning club-hoppers to keep a careful eye on their drinks
after a 23 year-old woman was rendered unconscious from what police think
was a drug dropped into her drink.

The woman was partying at The Oasis Tuesday night but shortly after closing
time she was found outside the club unconscious.

The woman told police she didn't take any drugs and that has police
wondering if something was added to her drink.

Police, ambulance and the attending physician at Kelowna General Hospital
agree her symptoms are consistent with the effects of GHB, a new
recreational drug that doubles as the "date rape" drug.In small doses,
gamma-hydroxy butyrate can produce an effect similar to alcohol.

In larger doses, however, it can cause sleepiness, unconsciousness, coma or
death.

Dan Seibel, spokesman for Kelowna RCMP, said police are all but certain
about the circumstances.

"We are satisfied it wasn't self-inflicted and we felt it could have been
involved with the drink," he said.

GHB generally has a salty flavor but Seibel said you can't detect its
presence in a drink by looking at it.

He said drinks should not be left unattended or accepted from others.

Alcohol is easily the most common substance involved with date-rapes but
GHB and Rohypnol are commonly known as date-rape drugs.

In January 2001 a 19-year-old woman was found face down in the snow between
two cars in an automobile dealership.

She had consumed GHB just before leaving a hotel room without a coat. An
autopsy later showed that she died of a drug overdose and hypothermia.