Club drug risk rises
By EVONNE BARRY,
health reporter
26jul02
OVERDOSES of the drug linked to the death of Hollywood star River Phoenix have risen sharply in Melbourne.
Party-goers have been warned to avoid the illegal drug, nicknamed fantasy, following a spate of life-threatening overdoses last weekend.
Five men, aged between 18 and 30, were admitted to the Alfred Hospital over three days after taking GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate).
All required life support after they stopped breathing.
Health authorities fear a particularly deadly batch of GHB, which is also known as liquid ecstasy, may be circulating at nightclubs around the Prahran hospital.
The rise in overdoses has only been recorded at the Alfred Hospital.
Two of last weekend's victims had been to the same club.
"It does seem to be an issue that is associated with this area," Health Minister John Thwaites said yesterday.
"We want to warn young people about the very extreme danger of this drug fantasy, which is going around at some parties now."
Associate professor Mark Fitzgerald, director of emergency services at the Alfred Hospital, said users were unaware of the potentially deadly effects of GHB.
"None of these people are bad people. I think they are just inexperienced," he said.
"They've been given an agent, they're unsure of its effects and they've had near-death experiences."
The drug, which is taken in liquid or powder form, is a depressant that was once used as an anaesthetic.
"It knocks you out. It stops you breathing," Professor Fitzgerald said.
"The medical profession stopped using it in the 1960s because it's unpredictable and too dangerous."
In 1993, actor River Phoenix died after he collapsed on the front pavement of a West Hollywood nightclub.
Autopsy results revealed he died from a potent cocktail of several drugs, including GHB.
Paul Dillon, of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, said fantasy was particularly easy to overdose on.
He believes inexperience, not bad batches, is responsible for Melbourne's recent spate of hospital admissions.
"I don't think you have bad batches of it. I think it's more to do with 'GHB naive' people taking it," he said.
"Saying a bad batch implies that there are good batches.
"This drug should not be taken lightly. It's highly dose-dependent.
"It's a very powerful depressant that can cause your respiratory system to collapse."
Mr Dillon said GHB was potentially lethal, particularly if taken with alcohol.
However he said no deaths had officially been attributed to the drug in Australia because it was difficult to detect.
"The problem we have is that if you don't actually get a blood or urine sample incredibly quickly (after death), you can't detect it," Mr Dillon said.
Source - Herald Sun
