If anyone is interested:
Addiction Journal
http://www.addictionjournal.org/viewpressrelease.asp?pr=145
Withdrawal from popular ‘party drug’ GBL can be severe and requires extensive medication and monitoring, research from the UK’s only Party Drugs Clinic has found.
Dr James Bell, head of the Party Drugs Clinic at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), said his own experiences in the clinic showed that GBL withdrawal should be viewed as a medical emergency.
Dr Bell co-authored the report, GBL dependence and withdrawal, with Mr Rodney Collins, a postgraduate student at Kings College London. The report is currently available online and is soon to be published in Addiction, the leading UK academic journal on substance and addiction issues.
Dr Bell argues that in dependent, “round-the-clock” users, GBL withdrawal can be a life-threatening condition. People presenting in withdrawal require immediate treatment utilising appropriate medication.
“Health professionals are well aware of the dependence and withdrawal issues around drugs such as heroin and alcohol,” Dr Bell explained.
“It is generally assumed that the so-called ‘party drugs’ do not have the same intensely addictive qualities, nor do they require a monitored, medicated withdrawal process.”
“My experience in the clinic shows that this is not the case. With GBL in particular, dependent users experience severe and traumatic withdrawal when regular use is stopped.”
Most users at Dr Bell’s clinic downplayed the dangers associated with GBL and other party drugs. They generally used GBL for three main purposes – to achieve social confidence, facilitate sexual activity and to treat insomnia. Most began using it as a party drug then used higher doses to induce sleep, quickly resulting in ‘round-the-clock’ dependence.
Dr Bell said the majority of his patients are well-educated, socially integrated young people who prefer the person they become when using GBL.
“Ironically, while GBL may initially result in increased confidence and sociability, most dependent users said they became ‘drones’ – introverted, unmotivated and unable to maintain contact with relatives and non-GBL using friends.”
Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), is a case study in legal highs. GBL is a liquid used in paint stripper and nail varnish. Used recreationally, GBL enhances confidence and sociability and reduces sexual inhibitions. In higher does, it induces sleep. Its potency makes it incredibly easy to accidentally overdose. One milligram brings on euphoria, while just one and a half milligrams induces sleep.
Many users overdose inadvertently and a small proportion progress to dependence. On trying to stop, users can experience severe withdrawal symptoms, and withdrawal can be life threatening. Throughout 2009, most GPs and drug services knew nothing of GBL, and were unable to offer treatment.
Dr Bell said his patients had all experienced difficulty in getting help with their GBL dependence.
“Most of my patients had initially sought help from their
GPs, many of whom were unaware of GBL and the consequences of prolonged use. As a result, the majority are self-referred, having heard about the clinic through the press, friends or a counselling service,” Dr Bell explained.
“Too often, GBL users only receive medical help after turning up in crisis at an emergency department, generally having overdosed.”
In late 2009, SLaM opened the UK’s first specialist national GBL withdrawal programme at their Party Drugs Clinic. The decision to offer a specialist service for GHB and GBL dependence followed a significant rise in the number of overdoses, with one South London hospital receiving more than three GBL or GHB overdoses every week in 2009.
In the 12 months since opening, the clinic has treated more than 30 people for GBL dependence. All but three have successfully completed outpatient detoxification, but most reported anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia after they had stopped GBL use, and in most cases it generally took several weeks for patients to show no signs of withdrawal symptoms. Some relapsed during the withdrawal period, demonstrating the need for ongoing care.
GBL was the subject of widespread media attention last year, until it was classified as a Class C drug in December 2009. Users report that the ban has had little effect, with GBL is still readily available for same day delivery, from internet sites outside the UK.
“Despite the ban, GBL is still inexpensive and accessible. GPs and emergency departments will continue to see cases of GBL dependence and withdrawal,” Dr Bell said.
“It is important that healthcare professionals, especially GPs, gain a better understanding of GBL dependence, and recognise that specialist services, like our Party Drugs Clinic, are available.”
Dr Bell said most patients at his clinic were dismayed to discover they had become dependent in just a few months or sometimes weeks, not believing so-called party drugs had addictive qualities.
“Patients frequently lament, ‘I didn’t know it was addictive’. Most doctors and policy makers are equally unaware that these new drugs can be addictive, and withdrawal can be life threatening.”
SLaM’s Party Drugs Clinic is open to anyone from across the United Kingdom and offers specialist treatment and withdrawal for people with GBL or GHB dependence, mephedrone misuse, methamphetamine misuse, and party drug dependence.
