UK - A spoonful of death: How deadly 'coma in a bottle' drug GBL is legally available

[edgarshade]

A spoonful of death: How deadly 'coma in a bottle' drug GBL is legally available on the internet

Daily Mirror
By Nigel Atkins 5 May 2012 02:00

With reader comments

A close relative of the banned GBH drug, GBL is also used by date rapists to spike drinks because it is odourless and colourless

Just one teaspoon of the party drug GBL can be fatal but a legal loophole means it can be bought on the internet by the litre. Nicknamed Coma in a Bottle, it is illegal to take as a stimulant but can be imported from Europe for its intended use as an industrial cleaner. This week mum-of-one Lynette Nock, 28, died after apparently taking the liquid solvent at a wake for friend Carl Fearon, 24, who is also believed to have used the drug before being found dead at his Birmingham flat hours earlier.

Now, despite the obvious dangers, drugs charities are bracing themselves for an increase in the number of users.

Her skin is blotchy and covered in spots, her eyes are puffy and her front teeth are missing after she had a fall. She had severe liver damage, was admitted to hospital – often unconscious – dozens of times and almost died of an overdose. Mikaila, of Crumpsall, Manchester, agreed to release the shocking pictures to serve as a warning. “It has destroyed my life,” she said. “I hope talking about what it has done to me might stop someone else from trying it. "When I look at the picture of myself I feel sick at how much I have changed.”

More...
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/coma-in-a-bottle-drug-gbl-is-legally-819298

 

[Crankinit]

'Coma in a bottle' I wonder if the newspapers hire someone to come up with these absurd 'street names' that nobody actually uses.

Anyway GBL is healthier and safer than ethanol, if one is available legally the other should certainly be.

Doctors have said it still kills six people a year

Compared to the hundreds a year killed by alcohol?

 

[Lazyscience]

what a load of bollocks. anyway, i thought this was made illegal years ago, thats why i stopped taking it.

 

[7zark7]

GBL was criminalised at the end of 2009 by the fascist Labour government. Now a class C controlled substance.

"Used by date rapists" - evidence please. It my be colourless and odourless, but fuck me, it is probably the most foul tasting thing I've ever put in my mouth. You'd notice that stuff in your drink!

 

[Crankinit]

Yeah even 1 - 2ml diluted in a full glass of juice tastes just foul, I've got no idea how you'd get someone to drink it without them noticing.