"Hillory J. Farias was 17 years old when someone slipped the deadly drug GHB into her soda. Hillory never drank, never participated in any drug use. She was very well respected by all of her classmates. She was going to be a senior in high school, she didnt attend her prom, and she never had a date."

"We learned that Kyle had never heard of GHB until only a few weeks prior to his death. Apparently a fellow classmate introduced him and other students to GHB as a safe supplement, which supposedly aids in muscle development and is used as a sleep aid, not as the potentially deadly drug that it is. We feel that it is our obligation as parents to expose GHB for what it is, something deadly. Kyle was a quality young man with a promising and bright future, and if this tragedy happened to him, it could happen to anyone."

The heart-breaking accounts of young people who died from GHB, like those above, are displayed at the Web site for Project GHB at http://www.projectghb.org/. Project GHB, a nonprofit group based in Pasadena, Calif., was formed two years ago to raise awareness about this dangerous, illegal drug known as gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB. The message is simple: GHB is a deadly drug.

No one knows how many deaths can be attributed to GHB. But Trinka Porrata, director of the Project GHB helpline, has documented 225 deaths in the last two years. Many go undetected and unreported, she said, because coroners don't know to test for the drug and the Drug Enforcement Agency no longer tracks such deaths. Porrata, who served as a member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 25 years, calls GHB the worst drug she's ever witnessed.

"GHB is the most dangerous drug because of misinformation about it on Web sites and because people can die so easily from it," she said. "It has a steep dosage curve. One dose for a 150-pound woman might kill a 300-pound man. It's unpredictable."

GHB belongs to the drug category called "club drugs," a group that is used for its intoxicating effects at nightclubs, raves, and other party settings. The category includes MDMA (ecstasy) and LSD. While MDMA has captured much of the headlines during the past two years, hospital emergencies involving GHB have quietly surpassed those from MDMA nationally, said Carol Falkowski, director of Research Communications at Hazelden and a drug trend researcher.

GHB is often mixed into bottles of spring water or other beverages, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Onset of effects occurs within 15 minutes and lasts three to six hours, said Falkowski. In low doses, GHB creates feelings of relaxation, depresses breathing and heart rate, and slows motor coordination. In higher doses, it produces sleep and a semiconscious state. Adverse overdose reactions can include vomiting, loss of consciousness, seizure-like activity, respiratory arrest, coma, and death.

GHB is also given to people without their knowledge to facilitate sexual assaults. The federal law enacted in 2000 to regulate GHB was named after Hillory Farias (mentioned above) and Samantha Reid. Health enthusiasts are attracted to the drug, and GHB has been used as a murder weapon in several states, including Florida, where a man was accused of drugging his wife with GHB and making it look like a suicide.

"The biggest secret is that GHB is highly addictive," said Porrata. "It's popular among bodybuilders, actors, businessmen on the go, and others who are told it's a sleep aid or workout aid. But people taking it every day are at great risk for becoming addicted. Once hooked, GHB addicts take the drug around the clock, every two to three hours, to avoid the unpleasant and rapid onset of withdrawal.

"GHB is the hardest drug to detoxify," added Porrata. "It takes 10 to 14 days to detox and the individual can't do it alone."

GHB addicts who miss a dose or try to stop will experience increasing blood pressure and heart rate, soaring anxiety levels, sleeplessness, hallucinations (which usually start within a few days after the last dose), and bizarre behavior. Withdrawal from the drug requires medical assistance and should involve prolonged follow-up with counseling. Addiction treatment and aftercare are essential or relapse is almost guaranteed, added Porrata. Suicide is a concern given the intense depression during and after detoxification. The Project GHB Addiction Helpline provides information to the addict, family members and treatment centers unfamiliar with GHB withdrawal.

For more information on GHB, visit http://www.projectghb.org/ or call Project GHB at 626-577-5204. More information is also available at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Web site at http://www.drugabuse.gov/.

--Published May 6, 2002