City, State: Clearwater
Date: February 24, 2003
Comments:

I had a horrible experience with coke and ghb and lost pretty much everything. I just want to try and help someone else from almost dying the way I did. If by telling my story can help someone it would be worth what happened to me. I was using GHB and was driving home ( I was trying to get home before I went out) and I passed out and went 8 miles past where I was supposed to turn to go home. I don't know how I made it without hitting someone sooner. I woke up when I was running into a stopped car. I was burned and in a lot of pain. I was so freaked out that after I left the scene of the accident ( without anyone noticing I was screwed up ) and was so shaken up that I did another huge cap full. When I got home I was telling my best friend what had happened and past out at the top of my stairs ( I am lucky that I didn't fall down the stairs ) and my roommate could not wake me up. She called the person that I was with before I came home and he came over ( he did it with me and got it for me ) and poured ice over me shook me tried everything to wake me. He knew what to watch for before he called 911, he waited over 6 hours and could not wake me up. My respirations were barely nothing and my mom was called and on her way over to see me from 3 hours away on the other coast. She didn't even know if I would live that long.

When I woke up ( 6 hours 30 minutes later, I could not remember anything.

Everything was very clear to me though. I knew that I almost died and that I could never do that again. I had it all. I had a wonderful job, my boss had just bought me that car and I lost everything. My mom and I went to a hotel and had a very long talk. I couldn't really walk and could hardly talk because of the accident. I was in so much pain, but I knew for some reason that I almost died. That was very clear to me. My mom taked me in to quiting my job because she didn't think that I could get away from the scene that I was in. I tried to get away once before with the coke and I lied to her and kept doing it. Anyway I moved back to my mom's town and I began to get my life back. I am one of the lucky ones that LIVED. When I left that city I had no money ( it either got spent or stollen ). I am very lucky to have lived, but to have had a family that could help me get through my experience. I am also extremely lucky to have got out before I got a problem. I have seen what has happened to some of my old friends with getting an addiction to either coke or ghb. The one thing that I didn't get away without is having a deviated septom ( a great big hole in my nose ). I just want to say thanks to my mom for rescuing me from killing myself! I love you mom!!!!!!!

City, State: Durand, Michigan
Date: February 10, 2003

Comments:

i am a former drug user...clean for 6 months and counting...my drug of choice was "e". last week end i met a friend at the bar for a drink and was dosed with GHB. i was in a coma and recall nothing of what happened to me that evening. i could have died that night if my friend wouldnt have called 911. everyone... be careful out there. watch your drink at all times! there are sick people out there. i am very fortunate to be here right now. now i know why i put drugs in my past...please be smart and do the same.

Comments from Indiana:

My 14 year old foster child was rushed into the hospital on 1/29 after she went to a house where there were several boys and she experienced a seizure.

Fortunately they had the good sense to call an ambulance. She remembers that they gave her a cup 1/2 full of Bacardi. Her blood alcohol level was 1.5.....I did not realize that the hospital does not check for this date rape drug and I am wondering if this could effect her blood level being so high. Also she now has a blood infection. She has very little recollection of the evening. She was vomiting for days and also complained of terrific headaches. Does this sound like this drug? Why doesn't a hospital test for this automatically? Thank you

Editor's Note:
It is hard to say for sure without further information, but it is a possibility that she was given some GHB along with the rum. However, GHB would not impact the blood alcohol level (make it higher). She had to have consumed enough alcohol to reach that level. For an inexperienced drinker, that level would potentially cause the symptoms described, but hard to determine without medical records or a doctor actually examining her, reviewing the symptoms and comparing them. Hospitals aren't able to test for GHB because they don't have the instrumentation required for the test.

Many drugs can be easily tested for in a drug "screen." But there is no simple drug screen for GHB. We are trying to improve the capability of hospitals and law enforcement to test for this drug.

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