Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Knockout Drops
The DEA has tallied 48 victims of alleged sexual assault who tested positive for GHB, as well as 30 victims in documented sexual-assault cases. But it's believed countless episodes go unreported. The drug can knock a woman out, leaving her powerless to resist a sexual assault and with no memory, or only spotty memories, of it later.In August 1999 San Francisco businessman Angel Flores was convicted of raping four women after spiking their drinks with a drug believed to be GHB or something very similar. San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Linda Klee selected only the strongest cases to present to the jury. One of the women, for example, testified that she woke up in Flores's bed with him on top of her. She immediately pushed him away and fled, informing the police.
Flores, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison, admitted to having sex with up to 70 women. All of the women consented, he claimed -- including the four who testified at trial. Flores has appealed.
Equally egregious was a 1997 case in Los Angeles, where a 39-year-old disc jockey and his 40-year-old roommate used a plastic bottle filled with GHB to spike the drinks of women -- and their male dates. There were 16 official victims at trial, including ten women who were sexually assaulted. "Actually, these sexual predators victimized many more women," declares Renee Korn, deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County. "We merely selected the strongest cases."
Several victims had no recall of being raped and sodomized. But there was proof. In some instances, the men took pictures of their crimes, which police discovered, and which were presented to a shocked jury. Steven Hagemann, the disc jockey who masterminded the plot, was sentenced to 77 years in prison. Danny Bohannon, his accomplice, got 19 years. Both men have appealed.
Because of GHB (and other drugs), the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA. Medical Center today offers tips for those going out on dates or to parties, nightclubs and the like. "Never leave a drink alone, only drink beverages you pour yourself and don't drink from a shared container," advises the center's director, Gail Abarbanel. "Don't drink anything that tastes or looks unusual, such as a soda that tastes salty, has excessive foam or leaves a residue on the glass."
Bogus Claims
In early 2000 President Clinton signed a law that classifies GHB as a federal Schedule-I substance, joining such drugs as heroin and LSD.
Nevertheless, GHB use will not likely abate. Not only is it cheap and easy to synthesize, with recipes widely available on the Internet, but its safety and effectiveness are touted by many Web sites.
Kyle Hagmann of Big Bear Lake, CA, was one who mistakenly believed these claims. When a classmate at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks told him GHB was a safe sleep aid, he checked it out on the Web, where its virtues were seconded. After going out for drinks with friends one night, the college junior with a 3.9 grade-point average took some liquid GHB to help him sleep -- which it had in the past. He was found dead in his bed the next morning.
Because illegal GHB is synthesized in clandestine labs using a common commercial solvent, there is no quality control and no way for a user to know the strength or safety of any given batch, which may explain Kyle Hagmann's death. In addition, since it can take the drug up to 30 minutes to have an effect, the user, thinking he needs more before the drug kicks in, can easily overdose.
The FDA is working hard to eliminate Web sites that sell GHB or kits and recipes to make it at home, but it's an uphill struggle. Explains Dennis Baker, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs at the FDA, "You've got a Web site, but where's the location? Where's the product? These people can ship GHB or the products to make it from anywhere in the world."
What's the answer? In the end, those using it will need to understand that the high just isn't worth the risk. "My parents made it very clear to me that I was not to do drugs," says David Grover, the teenager in Ridgefield, CT. "I'd look them in the eye and say, ‘Okay, I understand. Then I'd go off and do drugs. I had to learn the hard way."
Advertisement 
Your Comments
See all
...