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News: Night of drugs, love and friendship that ended with a mate dead

katmeow

katmeow

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News: SMH -21/7/24 - Night of drugs, love and friendship that ended with a mate dead

From the Sydney Morning Herald - 21st July 2004

Night of drugs, love and friendship that ended with a mate dead
By Natasha Wallace
July 21, 2004


They were four close friends in their 30s who had come to Sydney from Newcastle to celebrate another mate's birthday. Around midnight, they walked arm-in-arm from Circular Quay, drunk on rum and champagne and euphoric on the party drug GHB.

As David Dray told a court yesterday, the drug - also known as GBH, for "grievous bodily harm" - made them feel "in love with the world" and each other.

By the next morning, he and his wife, Karin, were in hospital after collapsing on the street, convulsing and vomiting. Their friend Alison Ramoundos was found unconscious in a Potts Point hotel room. Her husband, Sam, lay dead on the floor.

Mr Ramoundos, a 35-year-old father of two, died on March 16 last year of multiple drug toxicity, a four-day coronial inquest into his death heard yesterday.

An autopsy revealed high levels of GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate, also known as fantasy) as well as MDMA (ecstasy) and diet pills, Glebe Coroner's Court heard.

A Gatorade bottle containing clear liquid was found in the Ramoundos's room at the Devere Hotel. Later analysis found it was 1,4-Butanediol, the chemical used to make GHB, the court heard.

The chemical, used to manufacture plastic and adhesives, is not listed on the prohibited or restricted drug schedule.

But it is illegal to sell it as GHB, which has become increasingly common in Sydney rave party and nightclub scenes over the past few years. When diluted with water and swallowed, the liver metabolises the chemical into GHB.

Mrs Dray told the court yesterday that she had consumed about 14 alcoholic drinks since 5pm, and had taken an ecstasy tablet before she collapsed in front of The Establishment on George Street.

"I don't know if it's a dream or if it's what I'd seen, but I felt myself going down . . . that I was drowning . . . I woke up in hospital," she said.

Moments before, she and Mr Ramoundos had tried to call an ambulance when her husband began convulsing and vomiting in the gutter, but they both were unable to operate the mobile phone.

Mr Dray said he, Mr Ramoundos and David Aulds, the licensee of the EP1 nightclub, who was celebrating his birthday with a large group of friends, bought $500 worth of GHB.

They got the drug from Mr Aulds's flatmate, Shannon Poa, who had brought it to the Opera Bar at their request. Poa was given a six-month suspended sentence for drug supply in May this year.

Mr Dray said he thought the drug was ecstasy, because of its nickname liquid ecstasy.

He consumed up to six doses from the cap of a sports drink bottle, and thought Mr Ramoundos had consumed about the same amount.

Mr Dray said he had also had at least 20 alcoholic drinks since 5pm. He and Mr Ramoundos had about 14 rum and Cokes at the Opera Bar after they arrived about 8pm, he said, and they all had also mixed the GHB with rum and Coke at the bar.

Both Mr and Mrs Dray said they had only seen Mrs Ramoundos have one dose of the drug during their walk from the Opera Bar to The Establishment.

Another friend, Julie Croak, said she had left the bar early after an argument with her husband, David Croak. She told the court she saw Mr and Mrs Ramoundos when they returned to the Devere Hotel about 4am. They both appeared normal, just very tired. She was unaware they had taken drugs.

Shortly afterwards, she found her husband vomiting and having trouble breathing on the floor of Mr Auld's Potts Point apartment.

She assumed her husband had "drunk himself silly" and did not call an ambulance.

A spokesman for the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Paul Dillon, said GHB, which costs $20-$40 for a dose on the street, was highly dangerous because dosage was impossible to monitor. "The greatest danger of this drug is that it's a depressant, unlike most of the other drugs that are used in a club setting which are stimulants, and mixing this with alcohol is potentially lethal. People really aren't aware of what they're taking."

The inquest continues.
Click to expand...

From Here


I'm just shaking my head at the blatant stupidity of this. It really makes me sad :\
 
I was just stunned reading this article.

Im finding myself becoming quite desensitized to 1,4b and the stupidity of some people, with all the media attention that this drug is getting is amazes me that these things are still happening.
Some people are more than willing to ingest substances without knowing very much about them at all.

In this case, the man that sold the 1,4b to his friend, obviously knew very little about it himself, and the sad part of it is that he is the one responsible for his friends death.
*shrug*
 
Re: News: SMH -21/7/24 - Night of drugs, love and friendship that ended with a mate dead

I stopped reading after this...
drunk on rum and champagne and euphoric on the party drug GHB.
Click to expand...
While no body 'deserves' to die off any substance, they certaintly don't draw any sympathy from me.
Utter f**king stupidity and ignorance towards what they were doing fuels another media fire...

:\
 
Was interesting in finding this article about hearing about it on the news.

One of the interesting things that was mentioned at the inquest is that it's not illegal to buy, sell, or consume 1,4B.

And it once again highlights the dangers of calling 1,4B 'liquid excstacy' which couldn't be further from the truth.
 
Originally posted by Sllip
One of the interesting things that was mentioned at the inquest is that it's not illegal to buy, sell, or consume 1,4B.

Just before everyone gets excited, this isn't correct. It may not be specifically scheduled, but if it is sold as GHB, then it is illegal. The same principal applies if you sold a tablet of sugar as MDMA, you can still be charged.

Most 'GHB' on Melbourne streets is 1,4b. I am sure those people who have been caught selling it would have been prosecuted, and not let off by some technicality as this article suggests.
 
I wish drugs were legalised and only sold to people who know what the fuck they are doing. These people knew what they were doing, and are using GHB as a scapegoat for overdosing. Congradulations assholes, the federal pariliament will be happy to ban this substance after reading this article, making it harder and more expensive to get for all the wise drug users.
 
^ Houston, its does sound suspicious that they would have to drink capfuls of GHB, if they were experienced mdma users, they would have known exactly how much liquid e to take (which is little). I'm not sympathetic at all towards these type of people; don't blame drugs, take a look at yourself and ur stupidity and grow the fuck up and accept the concequences.
 
Lorenzo; WTF are you talking about when you say:
they would have known exactly how much liquid e to take (which is little).
Click to expand...

Please if you are talking about GHB or 1,4b DONT say liquid E. This is part of the whole problem, bullshit street slang that winds up confusing people.

All in all its a damn shame that ignorant people can get their hands on 1,4b.
 
Please tell me what liquid E is (and it shouldn't be GHB or 1,4b). Crap slang = misinformation. You will find a lot/most people don't research drugs before taking them.. One reason why is they didn't know they could do research. Goodness I took drugs for 13-14 years before doing 'real' research because I simply didn't think you could get REAL research in regards to illegal drugs.

I personally like to blame the Government (but of course any user is not totally blame free) for their "JUST SAY NO" attitude to illegal drugs. At least put a harm reduction emphasis that drugs are illegal/bad for you but if you choose to take them, you can do research on them instead of the old "Drugs are bad, do not take them" attitude. These guys were in their 30's, I too am in my 30s. Throughout my whole high school years (I first started taking chems at 14.. ) there was simply no education except word of mouth. I only discovered you could research drugs when I joined this site during 2001.

And for the price they mentioned they spent, thats a fuckload worth of GHB/1,4b. Enough for several people to party non stop for days. If they didn't have that much, it seems they were ripped off because they simply didn't have knowledge on the drug(s) in question..
 
Cowboy Mac said:
Originally posted by Sllip
One of the interesting things that was mentioned at the inquest is that it's not illegal to buy, sell, or consume 1,4B.

Just before everyone gets excited, this isn't correct. It may not be specifically scheduled, but if it is sold as GHB, then it is illegal. The same principal applies if you sold a tablet of sugar as MDMA, you can still be charged.

Click to expand...

I understand this. What's to stop all the 1,4B dealers emphasizing that they sell 1,4B and not G. Wouldn't that then mean that they are doing nothing illegal?

Though I think most 1,4B dealers would also be peddaling other illicits.
 
lorenzo_benzo said:
I wish drugs were legalised and only sold to people who know what the fuck they are doing. These people knew what they were doing, and are using GHB as a scapegoat for overdosing. Congradulations assholes, the federal pariliament will be happy to ban this substance after reading this article, making it harder and more expensive to get for all the wise drug users.
Click to expand...

I would say its very obvious that they did NOT know what they were doing, and thats the problem.
One man is dead, I don't think he or his family needs congratulating.

This screams nothing more to me than "educate people".
 
It frustrates me that nothing more was said about the absolutely fucking INSANE amount of alcohol that was consumed with the 1,4B. Infact the first part of the article seems to give off the impression that it is something that is common place when it comes to G use.. "drunk on rum and champagne and euphoric on the party drug GHB." Like having a few drinks and a dose or 2 of G is the best way to have it! And then right down the bottom it notes in passing "oh by the way, its potentially lethal to mix G with alcohol...".

Irresponsible reporting like this infuriates me. Its this kind of bullshit that allows for overdoses to keep occuring. Just tell everyone that people died... and not mention any possible ways that someone else can maybe avoid the same thing from happening to them.

I wish the "liquid ecstasy" label would be removed from G, but I guess it helps with sales... maybe these people wouldn't have bought it if they'd been told straight out that it was GHB.

stace.
 
one thing that constantly pisses me off...

the drug - also known as GBH, for "grievous bodily harm"
Click to expand...

followed by:

An autopsy revealed high levels of GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate, also known as fantasy)
Click to expand...


for fucks sake. it is not known as GBH by anyone else but the media.

they can get it right the second time they mention it...



what next?

they were drinking RMU, and BRUBON? or just plain ALCHOLO?.
 
Why the fuck cant the mainstream media use its powers of brain washing for good? They reach a huge audience of ignorant saps that would probably believe the sky is yellow if they reported it. If the media printed some useful harm minimization in the place of this bullshit maybe it would save someones life? But then I suppose they wouldn't have these nice drama stories to report on. So I guess they would rather things stay the way they are. (scoff my turds media)

And on another note I noticed on triple J today that even they didn't know the difference between ghb and all the other names the media invent for it. I thought they had more credibility than that.8o
 
I've been trying to think of something to write for over half an hour now, but all I can think of is that Charles Darwin knew what he was on about. This is a sad tragedy, but one which would have been preventable if these people knew even the FIRST thing about what they were taking. The drug combination and doses are beyond comprehension.

BigTrancer :(
 
Dammit! if only they knew what they were doing!??? most of the ODs that happen in my city (every weekend or so) is cos the people dont know what they are taking!? or how much they need?.. You'd think the dealers would let their customers know how to take it, how much is too much etc - but then again its a cruel money hungry world out there, unfortunately.. I went to a party last weekend where a girl I knew started to G out only on 1ml, and her friend not noticing much @ 2ml - having to re-dose another 2ml!? im starting to think that some people should've acted in the movie "flatliners".....TSK!

And boohoo with all the media in NZ about rinse aka GHB - its almost the same cost as what youd buy a pill here for :( - 2002 - 2003 "everybody" was doing it cos A: it was as cheap as a can of beer
B: it was legal

"Gee - How times change"
 
posted by the biggest trancer of all
I've been trying to think of something to write for over half an hour now, but all I can think of is that Charles Darwin knew what he was on about.
Click to expand...

word.

This sucks, poor people had no idea. just another reason that if you want to stop the deaths, tell people how to avoid killing themselves with dangerous comobos.
 
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