Project GHB Newsletter |
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DRUG ID & SYMPTOM GUIDE |
January 2005 If you enjoy this newsletter, please take a moment
Topics:
Announcements / What's New
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Check out the STORE! |
Need YOU to… You are looking at the last 5 minutes of a
bright future. NEW!!!PROJECT GHB Can Take Your Credit Card Offline For Products/RegistrationAre you interested in purchasing something or registering for the conference but your agency won’t allow you to use your credit card online (or you just don’t feel comfortable doing so)? We can now take credit cards via phone. Call 626-577-5204 to set it up. -----------> Go to the complete store. [top] |
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New Study |
Opportunity for Los Angeles Area GHB AddictsUCLA is beginning a GHB (and analogs) inpatient detoxification research study, funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and headed by Dr. Karen Miotto, Department of Pscyhiatry, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. Participants are being sought at this time. To participate, you must be basically health and taking GHB or GBL
daily and have no other drug or alcohol addictions. You will be
required to stay in the hospital for 14 days in order to receive
treatment. [top] |
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YOUR TURN |
Donations Welcome For Conference RaffleComing to the September conference or not, your donation of a raffle/auction prize for fundraising for Project GHB’s nonprofit education efforts is appreciated. Got a sports memorabilia item? An art item? Gift basket? Make jewelry or other craft items? Anything you feel would be useful for our conference prizes would be quite welcome. Items may be mailed to Project GHB, 260 S. Los Robles Ave., #318, Pasadena, California, 91101. Be sure we know whom it came from so credit can be given and some idea of its value. We can all make a difference! [top] |
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ADVERTISING |
WE ARE FORMING AN INTEREST LIST FOR ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES ON THE PROJECT GHB WEBSITE: PLEASE CONTACT TRINKA TO BE ADDED TO THE LIST. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DRUG INFORMATION HANDBOOK |
DRUG INFORMATION HANDBOOKWritten by Marcelline Burns, PhD
and Thomas E. Page, MA. Available at www.copware.com $29.95 [top] |
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BOOK REVIEW |
CRACKED:
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Resource for Professionals |
Communities Against Violence Network — www.cavnet2.orgFor those professionals involved in domestic violence and rape issues, the Communities Against Violence Network, CAVNET, is an excellent resource. Project GHB Board President Trinka Porrata has worked with CAVNET for some time to keep professional alert to GHB and other rape drug issues. A recipient of a Ms. Foundation grant, CAVNET (operating from www.cavnet2.org) is a tax-exempt nonprofit based in Washington DC. Founded and operated by Marc Dubin, the former Special Counsel to the Violence Against Women Office at the Justice Department, CAVNET has developed an international network of professionals addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, incest, stalking, juvenile justice, human rights, same sex violence, and crime victims with disabilities, bringing together a diverse community which includes law enforcement, judges, clergy, human rights advocates, lawyers, social workers, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, disability advocates, and hundreds of others. "CAVNET has shown itself to be the premier online database concerning violence against women.... Not only does CAVNET provide timely and substantive research online, it does so in a way that saves time and resources. The busier you are, the more valuable it is. It's like having a research team of experts, available night and day... As former Director of the Violence Against Women Office at the Justice Department, I'm proud to be on CAVNET's Board of Directors, and grateful for the resource.... And now, with the introduction of the CAVNET Database Builder, CAVNET's online research database can be on the website of every individual and organization concerned about violence. It's the most innovative antiviolence tool out there, and with the quality and breadth of the information, and the growing number of professionals building and using the database, it should be." -- Bonnie Campbell, former Director of the Violence Against Women Office[top] |
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What Does It Take? |
Don’t Listen to Drug Pushers—Save Your Friends!By Trinka Porrata It has happened AGAIN and AGAIN. In May New Jersey, seven people were arrested for letting their friend die without seeking medical assistance for him. According to the Philly Inquirer: “Anthony Algore DiTullio, 21, of Folcroft, was found dead in a room at the Surf Song Motel by police responding to a report of an unconscious man. Seven Philadelphia-area residents, who used the Shore motel room as a base for much of the holiday weekend, have been charged with failing to provide aid to DiTullio as he lay unconscious, gasping for air for at least 15 hours.” Police are assuming that drugs were involved and are awaiting toxicology reports to identify which drug(s). And in February in Falls, near Philadelphia, a young man was found dead of a GHB overdose, again left by his friends to “sleep it off.” Though unknown whether he ingested it voluntarily or not, initial information was that he appeared sick to his friend, sluggish and vomiting. The friend helped him to bed and left him to go visit his girlfriend. He returned to check on him and found him unresponsive. He then drove him to the ER but it was too late. Stephen Krueger, 22, was an employee of LA Fitness in Falls. Over and over again we hear this same sad story, especially when GHB or MDMA (Ecstasy) are involved. All too many people fail to seek medical treatment for friends who are in serious trouble from drug use, whether voluntarily consumed or not. Beyond the usual don’t-call-for-help-‘cause-we’ll-be-in-trouble mentality involved with any drug abuse, there is an intense campaign out there re GHB and MDMA for people NOT to call for help. They think it is a simple fix……..home remedy time. NOT. We have even heard of cases where “friends” injected or gave the person cocaine or other stimulants trying to reverse a GHB overdose or mixed other drug concoctions trying to “save” the victim, rather than get medical assistance. Playing doctor? Playing god? With MDMA the myth is that they just need to drink water and cool off (to hydrate since MDMA causes body temperature to rise and can cause fatal overheating). By the time they realize that this isn’t working, it may be too late to save their friend from brain damage or death. And, drinking too much water can cause death from “water poisoning” (hyponatremia). Drinking excessive water can flood sodium and other necessary elements from the system, causing death. The other problem with MDMA is that if the person’s friends are all on drugs as well, they don’t perceive the victim’s crucial situation. La-dee-dah, on Ecstasy everything is cool. So they party for hours by their dying or dead friends. It just keeps happening. Friends? Funny notion of friendship! With GHB the big myth perpetuated by the drug pushers is to just “let them sleep it off.” That’s how Caleb Shortridge (in whose memory this website was created) died. Roommates and buddies stood by for hours while he lay dying. We hear it all the time—“Duh, my friend was snoring, so I thought he was OK. I read on the Internet just to let them sleep off the GHB stuff. I checked him every 15 minutes.” Checked him for WHAT? So you could establish the time of death within 15 minutes? What tragic, moronic behavior. GHB causes a loud snoring that does not necessarily mean they are OK. No one, and I do mean no one, can predict who will just snap awake from it all and who may die. Most people do sleep it off, but the rest are called “dead.” The drug pushers are just trying to protect themselves from liability and from recognition of just how widespread GHB abuse really is. Don’t fall victim to their lies. Remember---If you give or sell GHB to anyone and they die, you may be prosecuted for manslaughter (even if they drink it voluntarily) or, in some cases, for murder. Not all states have Good Samaritan laws, but many do and even failure to seek medical assistance may put you behind bars, like in the Philly case. Lack of awareness by law enforcement, prosecutors and judges and testing difficulties MAY enable you to escape justice, but don’t count on it. Legal issues aside, what sort of person feels good about letting a friend die by failure to act or worse yet, killing a friend by being the drug supplier? Some samples: Lindley Troy Geborde (31) was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Lucas Beilat (15) in San Bernardino Cty, California, though Lucas drank it voluntarily. Michael Meagher (19) and Charles Coleman (20) plead guilty to of manslaughter in the death of Timothy Mathis (21) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Christopher Law (21) and Adam Eugene Orr (24) were deemed guilty of manslaughter in the death of Soraya Ali-Omar (22) at Chico State University in California, though she took it voluntarily. Russell Nestor (35) was found guilty and is doing many years in federal prison in Florida for trafficking GHB and providing a fatal dose to Paul Kniep (23), though Paul took it voluntarily. And it isn’t just about GHB. A Belmont, California, teen (14) took Ecstasy for the first time and complained that she felt like she was “going to die.” So her “friends” gave Irma Perez water and a bath, but did not seek medical care for her. She is dead and they were arrested. Same with the Colorado teen whose three “best friends” gave her an Ecstasy pill for her 16th birthday. She’s dead. They were charged. Get the message! |
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GHB & PREGNANCY |
LET US KNOW...............GHB & Getting Pregnant---Is It A Safe Mix??? By Trinka
Porrata GHB is one of the toughest drugs to identify in testing. To this day, hospitals can’t routinely test for it, even if the patient is under the influence at the time. With rape cases, victims don’t often get to the hospital in time for GHB to still be in their system. It is often missed in drunk/drugged driving cases due to lack of awareness (overlooked easily in the presence of any alcohol or other drugs) and testing issues. In death cases, many coroners still don’t know that it exists and when and how to test for it. So, how could anyone really state that it doesn’t have long-term effects? No one has been testing for it and correlating the information with illnesses, heart issues, birth issues, etc. Since 1999 when the Project GHB website began dealing specifically with GHB addiction cases, the question has come up repeatedly---“What about my baby? I got pregnant when my husband was a GHB addict.” Or, “I got pregnant while I was addicted to GHB.” There isn’t any true data about it. No one can say it does or doesn’t cause problems because no one has truly examined the issue. But now, a few years down the road, we have heard from a couple of those ladies again. One has a child now diagnosed as autistic. One has a child with behavior disorders. It has grabbed the attention of researchers who deal with this type of issue. Certainly it is a long road to any actual basis for determining a correlation, but it is time to examine it. This is unrelated to the very limited, one-time use of GHB in some countries as an anesthetic during childbirth. This is about heavy use at time of conception and/or use throughout pregnancy. Any women who got pregnant while addicted to GHB or while the father was addicted to GHB…………please get in touch with me by emailing me: Equus555@att.net. This is especially important if your child is now two or three years old or older. Let me know whether the child has any heath issues or does not have any issues. The information will be forwarded to an interested researcher. Contact information will only be passed forward if you give permission to do so. There are no guarantees that any “help” will be possible as a result of this contact, but it may help establish long-term factors about GHB use. [top] |
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Robert's Death |
The following message was sent to The Samantha Reid Foundation website, www.ghbkills.org. The message was in Spanish. We are posting it here in both Spanish and English because it is an important message. NOTE: Our GHB Fact Sheet and GHB Addiction and Withdrawal Fact Sheet are available in Spanish (plus English and French) on this site. From: adriana Robert estaba deprimido,varias veces coment con sus amigos la
idea de matarse. La madre (yo) se enter de todo demasiado tarde,
sola-mente supo por otros jvenes de la misma edad de Robert (21 a os
de edad) que a travs de Internet, y desde Argentina, compr GHB. El juez al encontrar la carta de despedida y averiguando sobre "suicidio" le hizo la ciruja de autopsia y determin que s era suicidio, que era una muerte "violenta", pero NUNCA descubrieron en su cuerpo con qu se haba matado: solo dijeron los m dicos forenses que muri por problema respiratorio agudo que logr detenerle el corazn, tambi n la autopsia de los rganos determin que haba adenoma de l pidos en el corazn y en el h gado. Robert amaba mucho para querer morir, de hecho lleg a comentar a su madre d as antes de su muerte que haba descubierto la forma de "parecer muerto" , sin pulso card aco pero estando an vivo. LAMENTO (yo la madre,) que Robert no haya tenido la colaboraci n
de sus amigos para advertir a la familia de la grave depresin de
Robert. Despus que Robert falleci todava los amigos cre an que GHB es algo "natural", inofensivo, que solo "duerme". No encuentro consuelo...yo perd a alguien nico como Robert, a mi
nico hijo, a mi primer hijo y al ltimo, UNICO,no queda ms motivo
para m para seguir en la vida ms que esperar mi propia muerte
definitivamente. Jovenes: PIDAN AYUDA, y NO CREAN TODO LO QUE SE PUBLICA,si las drogas MAGICAS solucionaran los problemas todos los adultos viviramos mejor tomandolas y por algo no lo hacemos. Si pudieran ver lo que pasa cuando ustedes mueren NO INTENTARIAN cosas novedosas!!!!!! PIDAN AYUDA, CONSEJO, GRITENLO si es necesario: porque siempre alguien que los amalos va a ayudar!!!!!!!!! Robert was depressed; he talked about killing himself many times
among his friends. His mother (Me) found out about it too late, and
only through other young people of the same age as Robert (21 years
old age), she learned that he had used the Internet to buy GHB, from
Argentina. [top] |
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Cathy's Prom |
From: Laer Pearce
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Ketamine
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Ketamine-Seekers Break Into Veterinary HospitalsVeterinary clinics in Gwinnett County, Georgia, have been the recent targets of a 21-year-old man now under arrest for the burglaries. Jonathan Bourne of Lawrenceville was arrested after a television viewer recognized him from a surveillance tape aired on a local newscast. He is believed to be responsible for at least three animal hospital break-ins in Lawrenceville and Snellville since April 27. Ketamine, aka Special K, is a club drug of great concern. It is an animal tranquilizer, used primarily to facilitate surgery of cats and with some limited human medical procedure usage. Its dissociative effects—similar to PCP but shorter acting and milder-- make the user (whether voluntarily taken or slipped into a drink) vulnerable to sexual assault, for example. Ketamine can also cause disturbing future flashbacks. Ketamine abuse can also result in other complications, such as cessation of breathing. This is what happened to Erin Rose from the Los Angeles area when she ingested ketamine with her boyfriend one night a few years ago. Erin was without oxygen for several minutes, resulting in severe brain injury and a lifetime of dealing with the damage. Erin works hard to prevent other young people from falling prey to this drug. She has been featured on the Today Show, a recent segment on The Montel Show and is in the outstanding DVD production done by Voice of the Victims (www.voiceofthevictims.com) now available in sets for parents and youth. Veterinary hospitals are encouraged to lock up their ketamine supplies and maintain a close audit of their bottles to reduce likelihood of losing inventory to employees or risk of burglary resulting in more ketamine getting out and into the drug trafficking market. [top] |
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Editorial |
ABC Irresponsible!Op/Ed ABC’s Ecstasy Story Irresponsible As the Drug’s “Death Season” Nears By Beth Pearce Producer and Director Voice of the Victims: True Stories of Ecstasy & Ketamine On Thursday, April 1, ABC ran a primetime special that was later described by radio disk jockeys in Los Angeles as “a one hour ad for Ecstasy use.” The feature, narrated by Peter Jennings, quoted rapt fans of the drug, downplayed any risks, and discredited government and scientific criticisms of the drug. The timing couldn’t have been worse, because we are entering the Ecstasy death season. First spring break, then prom, then graduation, then the start of summer vacation – kids are more likely at this time of year to take the drug, and to die from it. I became aware of this as I searched for true stories of Ecstasy victims to relate in my recently released film, Voice of the Victims, True Stories of Ecstasy & Ketamine. I found so many stories of Ecstasy tragedies, but focused on three – Cathy Isford who died after taking Ecstasy at her senior prom, Sara Aeschlemann, who died after a “friend” put Ecstasy tablets into her water so he could rape her, and Steven Lorenz who died from an Ecstasy substitute called PMA. As I filmed their families tell the heart-wrenching stories of their children’s deaths, it hit me: Every one of these lovely children did in May. Since then, I’ve found many more springtime Ecstasy tragedies. ABC didn’t point this out. In the course of questioning why the drug was made illegal at all, they didn’t mention that Ecstasy related emergency room visits have climbed 2,000 percent since 1994. When they quoted Ecstasy users saying how good the drug made them feel, they didn’t mention that Sara and Steven died horrible deaths, as their body temperatures soared to 108 degrees and their internal organs melted. And as they quoted (possibly out of context) UCLA drug policy expert Mark Kleiman saying, “I have never heard anybody say to me methamphetamine improved my life … but with MDMA (Ecstasy), lots of people think that the drug has improved their life,” Mr. Jennings did not explain to his audience that Cathy’s brain hemorrhaged and crushed her brainstem. There are two sides to every story. Unfortunately, ABC told just enough of the downside of Ecstasy to deflect charges of irresponsibility with claims of objectivity. Be that as it may, I frankly don’t think there is much use in arguing over the safety, or lack of it, of a drug. If you were given a pistol with a 1,000-round chamber instead of a six-round chamber, how much more willing would you be to slide in one bullet and hand over the gun to your child for a game of Russian Roulette? Ecstasy may make the user “just look at everything in the most positive light,” as ABC quoted one ecstatic Ecstasy user. I won’t argue that. I’ll just point out that even though Cathy Isford looked positively gorgeous in her prom dress as she lay in her casket, it is not the light any of us want to see our children in. If you feel the need to protect your child or your friends this prom season, especially after Mr. Jennings’ foray into irresponsibility, I suggest you log onto our Web site www.CathysProm.com and take Cathy’s Pledge, promising to “enjoy my prom experience without drugs or other destructive choices, so I can wake up the next morning to celebrate a new day.” # # # For information on Beth Pearce’s film, Voice of the Victims: True Stories of Ecstasy & Ketamine, log onto www.VoiceOfTheVictims.com, or call (877) DRUGS KILL. [top] |
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News Items
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Top Stories:Also from Scotland: Five year sentence for GHB drug rape Other Stories:Older, but worthwhile |
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This newsletter is located at: http://www.projectghb.org/newsletters/200407.htm ------------------------------------------------ Administrivia: This newsletter is published 'monthly' by Project GHB, Inc, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of GHB and related drugs. To unsubscribe, you must log in to your account and choose unsubscribe. Since this is an opt-in newsletter, YOU control the subscription. Please forward this newsletter to your colleagues! ------------------------------------------------
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