GHB National Conference

¨ An urgently needed national conference about the least known of the "club drugs."

¨ GHB is used as a rape weapon, is highly addictive when used on a regular basis, and potentially very deadly.

¨ Not enough is known by medical personnel, law enforcement, or the public.

¨ Because what you don't know.. can kill

Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate - Spotlight on GHB

An all-encompassing conference for law enforcement,

judicial, medical, school and community personnel

Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate (GHB) is one of the most complex challenges facing law enforcement & medical professionals today. It is the least known of the club drugs—a stealth drug compared to the widely discussed Ecstasy (MDMA) issue.

Since 1996, GHB overdoses have outpaced MDMA overdoses, but no one has even been counting GHB-related deaths. Difficult to identify in the field & to test for in toxicology, it is growing rapidly as a drug of abuse for a wide array of reasons. New research is underway because so little is known about how it works & why it does what it does. The biggest secret is that GHB is highly addictive & withdrawal is often severe, can be deadly & has ongoing recovery issues.

Information about GHB has been pouring in across the nation and internationally, but the flow has been sporadic with delays in journal documentation and media coverage. It is time to bring together those with cutting edge information about GHB and its analogs (chemical cousins having dramatically similar properties, effects and risks) and those who need to know. Our GHB deaths range from 13 to 77; our addiction cases from 18 to 65. We all need to know.

This national conference features three tracks of training, with important joint sessions.

¨ Joint Session - for all attendees

¨ Track #1 is oriented to medical personnel (ER, rape crisis & addiction treatment)

¨ Track #2 is for law enforcement, prosecution & judicial personnel

¨ Track #3 is for school & community resources.

A perspective on other rave & rape drugs (Ecstasy, ketamine, roofies, etc.), plus new drug trends (such as Yaba, Lucky 7, Foxy), will be provided, with special emphasis on drug abuse prevention & response for Track #3 attendees.

¨ Abused as a party drug, in the club/rave scene;

¨ Increasingly employed as a rape drug because it causes sexually oriented behavior, blocks victim memory, dissipates fast;

¨ Hyped as a sleep aid and workout aid, but daily use increases the risk of addiction (Though at first it seems to work, it turns on its users);

¨ Proclaimed to be an anti-aging substance, but can result in death or addiction;

¨ Hyped as an anti-depressant & at first seems to be beneficial, but again may turn on the user and leave them struggling for chemical balance;

¨ Touted as a weight loss product but in fact by itself will not cause any loss of weight whatsoever (Mixed with stimulants, it may seem to contribute to weight loss;

¨ Extremely impairing & thus its abusers are deadly behind the wheel.

¨ The extremely limited approval of GHB in July 2002 for the rare combination of narcolepsy/cataplexy will also be discussed

¨ Dr. Jo Ellen Dyer, who has published on GHB issues for more than a decade.

¨ Dr. Wallace Winters who researched GHB in the 1960s while at UCLA.

¨ Drs. Steve Smith & Deborah Zvosec, who have published on GHB analog BD issues & have managed GHB detox cases.

¨ Marc LeBeau from the FBI Crime Lab, a toxicology expert on GHB/DFSA issues.

¨ Trinka Porrata, who operates the GHB Addiction Helpline & has interview hundreds of GHB addicts, rape victims & family members.

¨ Dr. Karen Miotto, UCLA, Neuropsychiatric Institute, who has published on GHB issues.

¨ Researchers involved in current GHB grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

¨ Case agents & prosecutors from DEA, Customs, US Attorney’s Office, etc., who have handled GHB manufacturing, distribution, murder & rape cases nationwide & even internationally (Operation Webslinger). And many other first class speakers.

* GHB is also known as Swirl, Gina, Water, Salty Water, Grievous Bodily Harm, Liquid X, Aminos, Renewtrient, Regenerize, Tranquili G, Scoop, Soap, Easy Lay, Blue Nitro, Thunder Nectar, Somax, Rejoov, etc. GHB analogs include gamma butyrolactone, 1,4 butanediol & valeric acid.