NEWS: NineMSN - 11/4/09 '26 Overdose at Melbourne Party'

[On the run]

i've been to a lot of events where i have gone just as hard sober/after only having a few drinks then if i had been doing pills or whatever, just cos the tunes are good enough and i enjoy the music that much.

 

[Crankinit]

Well yeah, but people do that everywhere. I know plenty of ravers who won't listen to anything except hardstyle and gabber, and they can go all night without so much as a red bull.

 

[claire22]

For fucks sake. Stupid cunts need to get some oral syringes and common sense. I am a daily G user and I measure out my doses. Guess what? Never OD'd. I've seen idiots take sculls out of bottles. Why so irresponsible? The media thinks G is some devil drug.

 

[hyroller]

Trance Energy is a trance event, completely different crowd to the 'PHD-esque crowd' you're referring to.

Ravers aren't the only ones who take lots of drugs

Didn't see this one before
But yeah - refer to the last post
not trying to hang shit on the hardcore rave-types, but the rave scene has plummeted considerably since the 'muz'-types have taken it upon themselves to infiltrate it
not attempting to single out ravers on drug use by any means
-----

And i don't know the exact reasons for its prevalence, but I do know traditional G use has links to bodybuilding... and quite possibly, by extension - steroids... which, in Victoria at least, have a fairly strong association with certain ethnic groups. the type of crowd hard style etc music attracts nowadays, could have some small part to do with the rise of the drug's popularity...? perhaps.

at the end of the day, people need to be responsible for what they consume, and they need to be aware of the risks they are taking around the sorts of people they are with. hearing stories about peoples' so-called "mates" knocking them in the head to try and make them come to, instead of getting them proper medical attention, is really quite sickening.
it is this exact careless irresponsibility that gives the drug a poor image... when i (and i'm sure many others) know for a first-hand fact, that it is quite possible to use G recreationally WITHOUT compromising one's own safety.
*sigh*

 

[hyroller]

NEWS: 15.04.09 - GHB hit for cost of two beers

Since it's on-topic...

DEADLY dance drug GHB is cheaper and easier to get in Melbourne than anywhere else in Australia, a leading researcher has warned.

Its estimated street value is less than $7 for a 2ml "charge", about the same price paid for two pots of beer.

It's feared the drug, linked to overdoses at city raves in the past six months, is more popular with Melbourne teens because it's so cheap.

Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia spokesman Paul Dillon said a worrying trend was emerging.

"There is certainly anecdotal evidence to suggest GHB is more accessible in Melbourne and it's cheaper," he said.

That may explain why there are more GHB-related overdoses than in Sydney, he said.

"In Melbourne, ambulances have been lined up at major dance events . . . you never used to see that."

More than 25 people were treated for suspected GHB overdoses at a weekend party.

Ambulance spokesman Paul Holman said paramedics had saved victims' lives.

"Some of them had to have breathing tubes inserted, just to keep them alive," he said.

In December, 30 people were treated for GHB overdoses at a Festival Hall party.

Mr Dillon said GHB cost so little, he knew of a dealer who flew here to take it to Sydney. Users usually take 2ml "charges" for less than $7, compared with $30 for an ecstasy pill and $180 for a gram for speed.

GHB use was blamed for closing the Kryal Castle rave.

Online users said the latest victims were irresponsible.

One dance music site blogger said GHB was ruining Melbourne's trance music scene.

"I really enjoy going to Melbourne for trance events ... (but) every time I do though, I see way more people f---ed up than I do in Sydney or Brisbane."

Since 2001, GHB, or gammahydroxybutyrate, has been blamed for overdose increases and deaths. Drug agency Turning Point said that from October 2007 to March 2008, 60 per cent of overdoses occurred in Stonnington and Port Phillip.

GHB contains sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and ingredients used in drain cleaners and solvents used to strip floors. It is odourless, almost tasteless, and its effects can be felt within 20 minutes.

About 10 Australians have died after using GHB.

retrieved here

8)

 

[blau1005]

The ABC's version: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/15/2543300.htm

And related audio: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/audio/am/200904/20090415-am-07-ghb-price.WAV.mp3

 

[Sustanon]

GHB is not odorless and deffinatley not Tasteless. It tastes pretty foul, its very salty too. The smell is like petrol. Ive always wondered how they can spike drinks with it because id know straight away if my drink tasted different.

 

[Crankinit]

GHB is not odorless and deffinatley not Tasteless. It tastes pretty foul, its very salty too. The smell is like petrol. Ive always wondered how they can spike drinks with it because id know straight away if my drink tasted different.

But if it was a strong alcoholic drink and you were already intoxicated?

 

[Juvenile]

I had such a fantastic time at Trance Energy :D The Perth crowd really made it for me.....

I also saw cops randomly search people once they were already in the venue! Never seen that before.

I was at the Perth one, awesome day. None of the F-wits that populate events like summadayze and parklife. Certainly having it out of the cbd and not having some commercial house fag dj headlining must have kept them away.

Thats not good about the searches inside the venue. I've never seen that before either. A couple of years ago at summadayze I remember seeing cops while off my face and not thinking twice about it. Won't be doing that anymore I guess. Pretty fucked up cause if you are caught inside the venue you havent a "safe" option of the disposal bins. Its either down the hatch or crush it to powder and sprinkle on the grass and hope they don't see.

I must say I spent the first 2/3 of the event somewhat paranoid that the cops would bring the dog inside or start shaking down people who were obviously having a good time. (as I was having beaten the dog this round) Once I had eaten the last of my treats I was fine though.

Oh yeh, Melb peeps, What exactly is a "muzza" ?

I sure hope Perth doesnt get the GHB problem. We already miss out on enough events, plus when they do come here we only ever get things in nightclubs or during the day time. No outdoor / stadium / big multiroom stuff at nighttime. I imagine if the idiot police keep up the efforts with the sniffer dogs and word travels that GHB is "undetectable" it will become more popular.

 

[hatecubed]

Yeah I've never seen cops randomly searching people once in an event either, who's to say if this will be a regular thing from now on.

I'm so glad this GHB craze isn't in Perth. In fact, I don't know anyone who does it (and pretty much no-one that even knows about it).

Ahh hahah thanks for clearning up the Muzza thing, too, I was curious...

 

[hoptis]

And after doing my own part to send this thread miles off-topic ... This really isn't the right place to discuss clubbing sub-cultures. Sorry guys

 

[bud.lightyear]

dammit wrote a really really long rant and it got deleted by my stoned mate. >< anyhoo a few quick points:

cops at trance energy: they didn't "trust" event organizers. wtf can they actually do to stop ppl slurping on g? hardly anything. the cops didnt go cause it was all the way out in calder park. it took me over an hour in a car to get there and i live 10 minutes from the city. imagine carting a fleet of dogs all the out there to woop woop and a whole bunch of cops. they were lazy i reckon.

about g: it is the absolute easiest drug to use. 2 mls of clear of liquid in a drink, its dirt cheap, and its gets you real messed up. nothing is ever going to stop it besides education about how to effectively do it. dogs won't stop it, as they can't smell it. searches dont really do much, people still get most everything past. security can't really stop it, its too damn easy.
perhaps also people wouldn't take g if their biccies were decent >< (myself included)

no press has picked up on the fact that G is what is bringing the rave scene to crap and killing the youth, yet police actions (talking about dogs, cuz thats all they can do) will only make people stop taking pills and move on to g cuz its cheaper and they wont get caught.....

 

[MrIbis]

GHB is not odorless and deffinatley not Tasteless. It tastes pretty foul, its very salty too. The smell is like petrol. Ive always wondered how they can spike drinks with it because id know straight away if my drink tasted different.

Have you or anyone else on this forum actually taken pure ghb?

One would know, that ghb cooked from gbl is generally white to offwhite/yellowish powder. Soapy in texture, generally smells a bit like popcorn, and yes Sodium GHB is salty.

melbourne's supply of g is generally 1,4-butanediol. The taste is quite a bit more acrid than ghb, yet not nearly as bad as gbl.

I know of people lately who've IV'd 1,4-b (for what purpose i don't know), given it's key metabolic process is done in the liver by a two-pass metabolisation into GHB i'm not sure how IVing said substance would be, I couldn't see myself doing it.

 

[hyroller]

i've known a couple of skanky junkies in the past who IV'ed g...and all but the kitchen sink, pretty much. they were big time meth heads though, so i guess the large volumes they were doing of that would have worked to offset the effects of the g, to some extent. i do remember them telling me it was difficult to plunge because of its thickness. can't imagine how horrible the result would be if you missed...!!

 

[Sustanon]

How the hell would people inject unreacted NaOH into themselves thats in the GHB???

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ I missed that... where did someone say that was happening?

ETA: I'm not sure if that's even possible... adding water to NaOH will cause the molecule to dissociate into Na+ and OH-, which is what releases heat leading to a sometimes violent reaction that a lot of us have probably seen at school. I'm not sure if ingesting that is going to be bad for you.

 

[js2k6]

cops at trance energy: they didn't "trust" event organizers. wtf can they actually do to stop ppl slurping on g? hardly anything. the cops didnt go cause it was all the way out in calder park. it took me over an hour in a car to get there and i live 10 minutes from the city. imagine carting a fleet of dogs all the out there to woop woop and a whole bunch of cops. they were lazy i reckon.

i have a couple of problems with what you're saying here.

1. the cops were present... albeit outside the venue waiting for people who think drug-driving is ok.
as soon as i was leaving in the taxi, there were party lights all around

2. they sent sniffer dogs and police to ultraworld@ kryal 07... and ballarat is a lot further away from melbourne than keilor/calder is.
so it's got nothing to do with distance.

i personally think the lack of police and sniffer presence was mostly due to what happened to that girl at the perth big day out.

 

[phase_dancer]

ETA: I'm not sure if that's even possible... adding water to NaOH will cause the molecule to ionize into Na+ and OH-, which is what releases heat leading to a sometimes violent reaction that a lot of us have probably seen at school. I'm not sure if ingesting that is going to be bad for you.

NaOH is a strong base. A solution of NaOH of any significant concentration will burn the hell out of your eosophegus and stomach, and can lead to permanant damage or worse. However, if it was a common impurity in GHB, we'd hear about a lot more about such horror stories.

The only time one would expect to find residual NaOH in GHB, is when GHB has been made from GBL (NaOH results in a base catalysed ring opening of the lactone). GBL seems to be less available these days (on the street) and as it's converted to GHB in-vivo, it's likely many would do away with the base conversion and simply consume the lactone.

Edit; I missed the part about injecting. I can't imagine why someone would do it, but it doesn't take much alkali to kill when injected. Your blood has pH buffers that allow for small amounts of acid or acidic compounds to enter the blood without significant changes in blood pH. But there's no real protection if alkali is introduced. Something like NaOH, in even low conc. would kill very quickly.

 

[MrIbis]

^err when i referred to the morons injecting g, i meant 1,4-b. I was talking about reactions .. lets say. swim, had done when i was talking about ghb that was produced from gbl.

There is a significant difference in effect between ghb and gbl in reality, gbl is alot harder to take because of a) its terrible, pugnant burning taste b) dose response curve - and super super fast onset.

NaGHB is much easier to dose with, we always ate rocks of it, weighed out to 3~ grams. rather than diluting it in water, it was easy enough to take it like a big pill.

in regards to the NaOH and water thing, that reaction is wonderful. its cool.

 

[hyroller]

well yeah - the morons i knew would have been injecting the liquified form...street g could contain anything however...presuming they are still alive, i guess it didn't kill them.