FORSYTH BREAKS GROUND WITH DRUG CASE

Charges Against Two May Be First In State For Legal Substance

Two people accused of providing a "club drug" to a Reynolds High School
student were charged yesterday with five felonies, the Forsyth County
Sheriff's Office said.

The charges came after a 15-year-old girl became sick Jan. 29 and was taken
from class to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Tests showed she had marijuana and GHB in her system, said Forsyth Sheriff
Ron Barker. GHB, known as "Liquid Ecstasy," is increasing in popularity
with young people, officials said.

The people charged provided the girl with 1,4 butanediol, a legal substance
that converts to GHB after it is consumed, said Barker and Forsyth County
District Attorney Tom Keith.

Prosecutors and the sheriff's office decided on the charges after talking
with other jurisdictions, the N.C. Attorney General's Office and a chemist.
It's the first time in Forsyth County and possibly the state that someone
has been charged with making and possessing GHB when they had a chemical
that is converted into GHB by the body, officials said.

Jonathan Ewing Boyer, 26, of 2275 Brecknock Drive was charged with
manufacturing GHB, conspiracy to manufacture GHB, possession of GHB,
conspiracy to possess GHB, and aiding and abetting the possession and
manufacturing of GHB, Barker said.

He was released from jail under a $5,000 bond, Barker said.

Sean Bert Gallagher, 17, of 264 Anita Drive turned himself in last night
after deputies obtained arrest warrants on the same charges against Boyer,
officials said. Gallagher was a student at Reynolds High in January, but is
not attending the school now, the sheriff's office said.

The girl taken to the hospital got 1,4 butanediol from Gallagher, who got
it from Boyer, according to Barker and Keith. Boyer ordered it over the
Internet, Keith said.

Prosecutors believe that a person who gives or sells 1,4 butanediol with
the instruction that it becomes GHP when consumed is guilty of distributing
GHP, said Tim Severo, an assistant district attorney in Forsyth County
working on the case.

The drug is so new that the laws are not prepared, he said. "We're seeing a
dramatic increase in GHB," Severo said. "This is a cutting-edge drug."

GHB, a drug usually swallowed in liquid form, causes feelings of euphoria
and intoxication and is an aphrodisiac for some users, according to the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In low doses, it can cause drowsiness
and dizziness; unconsciousness or coma may follow higher doses.

The DEA says that at least 71 deaths have been tied to GHB, as of November
2000.

A 17-year-old student at Reynolds High was also taken to the hospital Jan.
29, and investigators said they believed that he may have taken GHB. Tests
later showed that he had marijuana in his system, but not GHB, Barker said.