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NEWS : 18.12.09 - Dangerous solvents sold as party drugs

kingpin007

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Dangerous solvents sold as party drugs

Posted 6 hours 15 minutes ago
Updated 4 hours 28 minutes ago

Police are warning that dangerous industrial solvents are being sold as a party drug in Melbourne.

A smaller than usual supply of the drug GHB, has led to some dealers selling either GBL or one-four butanediol.

Detective Inspector Doug Fryer from the Drug Taskforce, says both of the substances are used in paint strippers, glue removers and pesticides.

"A chemical reaction occurs in the body and turns it into GBH, but it does take a long time to take effect," he said.

"So we have people not thinking they're getting their rush, so they end up taking more and overdosing on it."

Concerns were raised after the seizure of a large batch of chemicals on Monday.

Detective Inspector Fryer says it is not surprising they have been described as 'coma in a bottle'.

"You know it's not a medical term, but it simply just fries your brain. Very, very dangerous and you know it can cause death," he said.

"We've seen, earlier this year, at a couple of the rave parties, a large number of overdoses when people have been using this product. It's particularly dangerous when mixed with alcohol."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/18/2775361.htm
 
"You know it's not a medical term, but it simply just fries your brain.

*face palm*

A smaller than usual supply of the drug GHB, has led to some dealers selling either GBL or one-four butanediol

At least they seem to get it. Stupid war on drugs just leads to more dangerous drugs.
 
Alarm over lethal new 'party drug'

JOHN SILVESTER

December 18, 2009



Melbourne crime syndicates are marketing a dangerous liquid industrial solvent as a "harmless" party drug, risking widespread overdoses, a police investigation has revealed.

Detectives seized 260 litres of the chemical on Monday, confirming fears of a strong market in the potentially lethal drug.

The head of the drug taskforce, Doug Fryer, said a drought of gamma hydroxybutyrate (commonly known as GHB, GBH, grievous bodily harm, fantasy or liquid ecstasy) had prompted syndicates to turn to gamma butyrolactone (GBL) and similar chemicals.

"It is very cheap and very dangerous. It is a huge health risk," Detective Inspector Fryer said.

In April 26 people overdosed on GBL that they believed was GHB at a rave party at the Calder Park Thunderdome.

GBL is used in glue removers, floor strippers, paint thinners and pesticides. It has been called "coma in a bottle" and has been linked to date rapes.

Drug researchers say it is marketed in the dance scene as the stimulant "liquid ecstasy" rather than what it is: a depressant that lowers heart and breathing rates.

Matthew Dunn, of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, said he had interviewed users who said they would never take GBL but took liquid ecstasy.

"They are unaware it was the same thing . . . Inexperienced users may not know that until they wake up in an emergency ward."

The taskforce has completed an 18-month audit to try to establish local drug trends and plan investigations into 2010. The audit shows the taskforce:

? Arrested 200 suspects and laid 940 charges related to trafficking commercial quantities of drugs and other serious offences.

? Seized assets valued at nearly $20 million, including houses, luxury cars, motorbikes, televisions, properties and cash.

? Disrupted and destroyed syndicates that police can link to drugs with a street value of more than $62 million.

? Arrested suspects alleged to be involved in the production and distribution of 143,800 ecstasy tablets valued at $4.3 million.

? Uncovered an elaborate underground factory used for cannabis production.

Detective Inspector Fryer said the taskforce was working closely with Australian Crime Commission, asset seizure experts, tax officials, federal law enforcement agencies and overseas police. "At least 60 per cent of our operations have national or international connections. Our relationship with the ACC is crucial to ongoing success."

Some rings now traffic several different products rather than specialise in one substance.

"We know there are groups who move between large-scale cannabis production to heroin importation," he said.

Police were aware of marijuana growers producing crops valued at up to $600,000 every 12 weeks. In one case an underground bunker was allegedly built for $80,000 to hide a production headquarters.

Police are also concerned at a possible surge in heroin trafficking. Recently 3.5 kilograms was seized from one group, and more than 100 Melbourne-based couriers are believed to be smuggling from Vietnam for syndicates.

Detective Inspector Fryer said anti-corruption measures, installed after several former drug detectives were convicted of criminal charges, were working.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/alarm-over-lethal-new-party-drug-20091217-kzzx.html
 
"You know it's not a medical term, but it simply just fries your brain.

Last I checked GHB/GBL had no long term toxicity and occured in the body naturally (GHB anyway). Not that I'm an expert, but to make a statement like that when alcohol is perfectly legal and far more damaging seems asinine.

Anyway, old news.
 
Last I checked GHB/GBL had no long term toxicity and occured in the body naturally (GHB anyway).

Then you probably haven't heard about GHB's modulating effects on glutamate.

This was posted in Advanced DD in the tread titled GHB neurotoxicity

Neurotoxic effects induced by gammahydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in male rats.
Pedraza C, García FB, Navarro JF.

Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, Spain. [email protected]
Gammahydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous constituent of the central nervous system that has acquired great social relevance for its use as a recreational 'club drug'. GHB, popularly known as 'liquid ecstasy', is addictive when used continuously. Although the symptoms associated with acute intoxication are well known, the effects of prolonged use remain uncertain. We examined in male rats the effect of repeated administration of GHB (10 and 100 mg/kg) on various parameters: neurological damage, working memory and spatial memory, using neurological tests, the Morris water maze and the hole-board test. The results showed that repeated administration of GHB, especially at doses of 10 mg/kg, causes neurological damage, affecting the 'grasping' reflex, as well as alteration in spatial and working memories. Stereological quantification showed that this drug produces a drastic neuronal loss in the CA1 hippocampal region and in the prefrontal cortex, two areas clearly involved in cognitive and neurological functions. No effects were noted after quantification in the periaqueductal grey matter (PAG), a region lacking GHB receptors. Moreover, NCS-382, a putative antagonist of GHB receptor, prevented both neurological damage and working- memory impairment induced by GHB. This suggests that the effects of administration of this compound may be mediated, at least partly, by specific receptors in the nervous system. The results show for the first time that the repeated administration of GHB, especially at very low doses, produces neurotoxic effects. This is very relevant because its abuse, especially by young persons, could produce considerable neurological alterations after prolonged abuse.



GHB neurotoxicity
 
That's interesting, and definately goes against what I was led to believe, but far from conclusive about the effect of recreational use in humans.

I'll read through that thread now, my curiosity has been piqued.
 
Drug researchers say it is marketed in the dance scene as the stimulant "liquid ecstasy" rather than what it is: a depressant that lowers heart and breathing rates.
By "liquid ecstacy" I take it they mean GHB (I've never heard someone call it this), and last time I checked, that was a depresssant that lowers heart and breathing rates, NOT a stimulant 8)

Another terrible article from our media - at least they're consistent.
 
By "liquid ecstacy" I take it they mean GHB (I've never heard someone call it this), and last time I checked, that was a depresssant that lowers heart and breathing rates, NOT a stimulant 8)

Another terrible article from our media - at least they're consistent.

That's the point of the story - there are people who dont realise GHB/GBL and 'liquid ecstasy' are the same thing. Read a bit more closely next time.
 
I don't really understand the whole 'liquid ecstasy' thing. I'd say it's much, much closer to alcohol, or other assorted CNS depressants, than it is anything like MDMA.
 
I've never heard anyone but the media call GHB 'liquid ecstasy'. Pretty sure someone is employed to come out with these outrageous drug street names.
 
That's the point of the story - there are people who dont realise GHB/GBL and 'liquid ecstasy' are the same thing. Read a bit more closely next time.
I read the story closely, you missed my point. People, in my experience, don't call it "liquid ecstasy". Also the story seems to suggest that "liquid ecstasy" (GHB) is a stimulant, which it is not. Just like GBL, it is a depressant.

The ABC story isn't too inaccurate, at least it point out the fact that GBL gets metabolized into GHB - it's just the second article which has gross factual errors.
 
We should all be used to the brand of extravagant titles devised by the media for these substances. To the more typical superficial reader of these tabloid style pieces I've highlighted in bold the key points. The obvious basis of the article being only to instill fear really isn't targeting the right demographic seeing as it is from the ABC which I assume doesn't have a noticeable youth drug user base...

Dangerous solvents sold as party drugs

Posted 6 hours 15 minutes ago
Updated 4 hours 28 minutes ago

Police are warning that dangerous industrial solvents are being sold as a party drug in Melbourne.

A smaller than usual supply of the drug GHB, has led to some dealers selling either GBL or one-four butanediol.

Detective Inspector Doug Fryer from the Drug Taskforce, says both of the substances are used in paint strippers, glue removers and pesticides.

"A chemical reaction occurs in the body and turns it into GBH, but it does take a long time to take effect," he said.

"So we have people not thinking they're getting their rush, so they end up taking more and overdosing on it."

Concerns were raised after the seizure of a large batch of chemicals on Monday.

Detective Inspector Fryer says it is not surprising they have been described as 'coma in a bottle'.

"You know it's not a medical term, but it simply just fries your brain. Very, very dangerous and you know it can cause death," he said.

"We've seen, earlier this year, at a couple of the rave parties, a large number of overdoses when people have been using this product. It's particularly dangerous when mixed with alcohol."
 
yeah... definitely much closer to alcohol than MDMA. no contest...

and definitely unsurprising re the neurotoxcity - a few times it has felt as though the brain juices begin to dissolve the grey matter in my skull during a peak... if I start to think about it!
 
wow id never known GHB had nurotoxic effects. I figured GBL might. Learn something new.
 
It's not all that surprising to hear it suggested GHB modulates glutamate induced neurotoxicity.

Glutamate is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate nervous system. At chemical synapses, glutamate is stored in vesicles. Nerve impulses trigger release of glutamate from the pre-synaptic cell. In the opposing post-synaptic cell, glutamate receptors, such as the NMDA receptor, bind glutamate and are activated. Because of its role in synaptic plasticity, glutamate is involved in cognitive functions like learning and memory in the brain. The form of plasticity known as long-term potentiation takes place at glutamatergic synapses in the hippocampus, neocortex, and other parts of the brain.

Glutamate transporters[3] are found in neuronal and glial membranes. They rapidly remove glutamate from the extracellular space. In brain injury or disease, they can work in reverse and excess glutamate can accumulate outside cells. This process causes calcium ions to enter cells via NMDA receptor channels, leading to neuronal damage and eventual cell death, and is called excitotoxicity. The mechanisms of cell death include

* Damage to mitochondria from excessively high intracellular Ca2+[4]

* Glu/Ca2+-mediated promotion of transcription factors for pro-apoptotic genes, or downregulation of transcription factors for anti-apoptotic genes.

Excitotoxicity due to glutamate occurs as part of the ischemic cascade and is associated with stroke and diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, lathyrism, autism, some forms of mental retardation and Alzheimer's disease.

Glutamic acid has been implicated in epileptic seizures.....

From wiki
 
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