NEWS: Daily Telegraph - 5/01/08 'GHB putting teens in hospital'

[lil angel15]

GHB putting teens in hospital
By Clare Masters
January 05, 2008 12:00am

TEENAGERS as young as 17 are overdosing on the drug known as fantasy or GHB with one Sydney hospital treating more than 13 overdoses on New Year's Day - five from one dance party.

Ambulances rushed 10 people from the popular New Year's Day dance event Field Day to St Vincent's Hospital.

Eight party-goers had taken drugs, five collapsed after taking GHB. At least three were teenagers.

Drug experts believe party-goers are being sold the drug as "liquid ecstasy" - not realising they are taking the same lethal substance that killed cruise ship drug victim Dianne Brimble.

"GHB has quite a bad name amongst some groups, but when the name changes and they think they've been given something different is when things can go horribly wrong," Paul Dillon, from Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, said.

"When you start to see very young people using this drug with little knowledge of how dangerous it is, it is only a matter of time before we see more deaths occurring."

The Daily Telegraph was told three of the party-goers were admitted to intensive care and remain in hospital with one suffering a cardiac arrest.

A spokeswoman for St Vincent's Hospital said she was unable to comment directly on the matters.

"We did have around 13 GHB related overdoses on New Year's Day and more GHB-related presentations with less dangerous levels, and we still saw some coming in on the 2nd and the 3rd (of January)," she said.

Three of the overdoses from Field Day were teenagers, including a 17-year-old boy and others 18 and 19.

The rash of overdoses has shocked party organisers and drug experts.

Adelle Robinson from event promoter Fuzzy, which runs Field Day, said there have been no GHB incidents at any of their recent dance events.

"We haven't had any GHB overdoses at any of our other events for the last couple of years so this was an increase," she said.

"Our medical team consisted of 35 medical officers, two ambulances, four paramedics, two doctors and 15 volunteers from the Red Cross."

Mr Dillon said he was concerned about the reports and said some party-goers believe the liquid substance is similar to the stimulant ecstasy.

"GHB is a very powerful depressant, you take a little more than intended and you'll find yourself in a hospital bed on life support," he said.

GHB is an anaesthetic drug with sedative properties.

Ms Brimble, 42, died in 2002 from an overdose of GHB on the P&O cruise liner.

Generally known as a drink-spiking drug, GHB usually comes as a colourless or bright blue liquid.

Daily Telegraph

 

[vanth]

Am I missing something or were there no misinformation or blatant lies in that article? I'm a little confused.

 

[Splatt]

Only one ^

"GHB is a very powerful depressant, you take a little more than intended and you'll find yourself in a hospital bed on life support," he said.

It should read: "you take a little more, you act like someone mentally challenged and then fall into a deep sleep, depending on the dose you can get responses from them or not, unless they've gone and had an extra 3-5+ml pure on top of their dosing, they may end up on life support because someone freaked out... they normally wake up on their own."

The whole one ml or two over and your dead crap is a bullshit myth, anyone that dies from an extra ml, could probably die from taking 2 stilnox as well or any other sleeping tablet that forces you into a deep sleep.

I dont like the fact that G's sold at dance parties. or people use it that don't know what they're doing. But can't they see how sniffer dogs are to blame a bit? Dogs don't sniff G. And the Sydney Super Int. said himself "we're only looking for speed and ecstasy"

 

[vanth]

For some reason I was thinking of concentrate, for which it could certainly be true.

You're right, the increase in G use at dance parties is surely linked to the dogs and arrests.

 

[Splatt]

Even with concentrate (that would be 1,4B - 1gram per ml) I know the sleeps that overdoses puts people in, its scary theyn don't respond but theyre still lightly breathing and sometimes half snoring, but you just can't wake them up.. it truely is a coma state.. if they're showing signs of real oxygen deprivation.. well yes, call an ambulance, but i Don't believe 4 - 5 grams GHB can kill a person.

I've felt overdose feelings of GBL before, you go past the blow out, and head straight into seizures which aren't fun or controllable. Its like your body knows not go go to sleep, as you won't breathe.. You feel like you've been zapped on the chest to get yourt heart pumping again. That was from a very high dose, with no tolerance, and i'd never repeat it again, was a time I truly knew I was going to die, but decided to just see what happened as I could of only yelled for help anyway, no one was home.

 

[vanth]

Are you sure? I've had a friend who had a couple of ml too many of the conc and went into a unresponsive coma with breathing and heart rate that kept decreasing.

 

[Splatt]

What did he/she have? [GBL, GHB, 1,4B - dilute/concentrate? dosings?] Breathing is supposed to be very shallow, and thew low blood pressure makes it hard to detect and time pulses properly.

Have you noticed a meth comedown has the same effects as G in the way of breathing, and people stay like that for days.

MDMA peaks you hardly breath either.

Alcohol excess or benzo excess. etc..

 

[Dave82]

I have never done GHB and have no plans to, but if it's similar to an intoxicated feeling why not just get pissed?

 

[Splatt]

Because its not similar to alcohol. Its much more clear headed, pure anti-anxiety euphoria. Not like alcohol, where you need dangerous excessive amounts of it to forget your problems.

Its the best drug ever, but due to that, its one of the worst for your life.. you can simply forget anything you want and put it off and not care abolut it, and doing that over and ovber leads to physical addiction.

 

[Mr TIMO]

Because its not similar to alcohol. Its much more clear headed, pure anti-anxiety euphoria. Not like alcohol, where you need dangerous excessive amounts of it to forget your problems.

Its the best drug ever, but due to that, its one of the worst for your life.. you can simply forget anything you want and put it off and not care abolut it, and doing that over and ovber leads to physical addiction.

I dont like the fact that G's sold at dance parties. or people use it that don't know what they're doing. But can't they see how sniffer dogs are to blame a bit? Dogs don't sniff G. And the Sydney Super Int. said himself "we're only looking for speed and ecstasy"

the government really are absolute morons on drug issues aren't they.
on one hand, you have them with sniffer dogs at clubs and events that can only detect certain substances such as you mentioned. this suits the logic of their 'zero tolerance' policy just perfectly doesn't it. don't take any illegal drugs in and you won't get caught. it doesn't matter what the dogs can sniff if you're not carrying.
now of course humans by nature like to believe they live in a free world where they can enjoy themsleves as they please, and most of us are responsible enough to be able to do this without putting too much risk on ourselves or others. it should hands down NEVER be illegal to be able to enjoy yourself via means of chemicals. it's not drugs in general that are the problem, it is their potential for abuse (and of course the various genuine health problems they can cause).

On top of that, the other major problem is the dangers of taking unknown drugs i.e. some random pill pressed in back shed. And of course the other major danger is the governemnts scare mongering zero tolerance pollicy on drugs which does little to help the problem. It doesn't give informative information about the dangers of drugs.
They just make blanket statements about drugs, such as "you WILL look like this", and then they expect us to take them seriously?
i mean come on, we have minds of our own, treat us with respect if you want us to respect the law.
untill then, we will continue to enoy ourselves outside of the law, at a greater risk than if drugs were controlled.
when i say controlled, i mean produced in proper government certified labs, rather than who knows where.

well that's my rant.

 

[Splatt]

Also you can't beat the body buzz. Its like what I think heroin would feel like without having to inject

 

[vanth]

What did he/she have? [GBL, GHB, 1,4B - dilute/concentrate? dosings?] Breathing is supposed to be very shallow, and thew low blood pressure makes it hard to detect and time pulses properly.

Have you noticed a meth comedown has the same effects as G in the way of breathing, and people stay like that for days.

MDMA peaks you hardly breath either.

Alcohol excess or benzo excess. etc..

I completely forgot I posted in here

It was concentrate, I can't remember what it was specifically, if I ever knew. It was the decreasing pulse and rate of breathing that concerned me. I suppose he might have been fine if we'd just left him, but it was enough of a concern to do something about it. I'm no stranger to g'ing out.

I can't say I've noticed a similar effect with another of those other drugs, though I suppose its a lot different being on the outside looking in.

 

[drplatypus]

Just so that we can be absolutely clear from a medical perspective- GHB and its analogues are NOT just like benzo's in the equivalence of their effects. Many people who have died from GHB use have done so because of associates making that assumption.

I've treated, and been personally involved in the treatment of more GHB overdoses as anyone else I know in Australia, and as far as I know, we aren't being with mass hysteria by medical professionals, panicking in the face of overdose-ees, 'faking' coma.
Coma is Coma- it's not sleep. If 'sleep' is so deep that it causes the protective reflexes of the airway to be diminished, so that you inhale your stomach contents, or so that your breathing is so 'shallow' that the percentage of oxygen in your blood drops dramatically, then it's not sleep anymore- it's coma.

GHB is more dangerous when you compare the dose required to get effect vs the dose required to kill you (see Robert Gable's excellent article on comparative toxicology in the journal Addiction- there's a link to it here).

I wasn't aware that there were many people still out there still maintaining that GHB et al was safe. The facts suggest that on the spectrum of 'dangerousness', GHB remains a very different entity, even in our backyard. Read our paper on local deaths-
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/181_06_200904/cal10128_fm.html

I'm not sure what role you played in managing the patient you're commenting on Vanth, but seeking medical care was definitely NOT panicking, and definitely the right thing to do....

 

[swilow]

GHB and its analogues are NOT just like benzo's in the equivalence of their effects.

Yes, but the M.O.A is very similar ie. raising/prolonging the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA.

GHB is more dangerous when you compare the dose required to get effect vs the dose required to kill you (see Robert Gable's excellent article on comparative toxicology in the journal Addiction- there's a link to it here).

He links to a journal article wherein he claims that there have been two deaths from cannabis and 2 deaths from LSD. That is patently untrue fwiw

MDMA peaks you hardly breath either.

Very different to respiratory depression though Splatt....most adrenal stimulants will give one a feeling of breathlessness or excitement in my opinion.

 

[AcidRain]

"When you start to see very young people using this drug with little knowledge of how dangerous it is, it is only a matter of time before we see more deaths occurring."

class action vs. the education system?

 

[vanth]

I'm not sure what role you played in managing the patient you're commenting on Vanth, but seeking medical care was definitely NOT panicking, and definitely the right thing to do....

I'd always thought so, but splatt kind of threw me.

 

[Splatt]

i know of someone who tried to do them selves by taking alcohol, benzos and 20ml of GBL but they woke up. Not saying its in any way safe, they were just lucky, or unlucky if they chose they didnt want life, however way you want to put it.


But Drplatypus, I've seen many blow outs and been in many, I dont like it anymore because you just wake up like youve been dead with w/d anxiety.

But do you think you can die from the standard 2.5ml GBL doses people take to knock themselves out for a few hours sleep ? i dont think its very likely.?

i reckon GHB is way safer than mdma, body and mind.. its like the perfect drug at the right dose. Increases appetite, increases sex drive, feels very good, anti-anxiety, sleep or rest inducing, and you dont have a hangover... it is however very addictive.

that page is really old. do you believe GHB levels can rise if the samples are not stored properly.. there are storage problems with GHB levels reading higher later on if not stored colder or warmer. some of them could of been other non GHB related deaths? Surely some people could release GHB internally in times of cardiac arrest from other problems?


either way its not a very big list compared to other drugs. and i see alcohol in there a bit.

 

[Vcdman]

splatt, sure G is a great substance, and very safe if used responsibly..

but lets face, it the dangers are; not many people use drugs responsibly... thus G is a very dangerous drug

 

[vanth]

Exactly.

 

[Splatt]

I wish it was still legal so iot wasn't as attractive and no one knew about it then
Liquid ecstasy was the worst name it could of ever been given.