Two overdose on 'date rape' drug; details 'sketchy'

By EMILY REHRING
Collegian Staff Writer

Two 20-year-old Penn State male students were taken to Centre Community Hospital in late July after ingesting GHB, also called a "date rape" drug, according to a press release from the State College Police Department.

Police believe the men drank a few ounces of the liquid drug to produce a high, but said other details about the incident were sketchy.

During the Memorial Day holiday, a 16-year-old girl also was hospitalized after taking the drug.

GHB, which stands for Gamma-Hydroxybutyric Acid, is a sedative-hypnotic drug that sparked concern last year because users became unaware and uninhibited of their surroundings.

Dr. Margaret Spear, director of University Health Services, said the drug, which can be detected in blood or urine, is sometimes taken recreationally.

"(Some people) try it and see how it makes them feel," she said. "It makes you a little bit sleepy and out of it."

GHB can be produced at home as a clear, odorless liquid. It can also be found in crystal and pill form. It is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The best way to avoid inadvertently taking this drug is to watch one's drink, Spear said. Do not accept a drink from anyone or drink out of a general punch bowl, she advised.

Synthesized in the 1960s by a French physician, GHB was intended for use as a general anesthetic and a treatment for insomnia and narcolepsy, a daytime sleeping disorder. It was also intended for use as an anti-stress drug, an alcoholism treatment and an aid to childbirth, wrote Steven Fowkes in his "GHB Report to the California Legislature."