By Angelique Serrao
Gauteng youngsters are overdosing on a potent date-rape drug which is difficult to trace in the body.
Gamma-hydroxybutric acid, or GHB, was originally produced as an anaesthetic in the 1960s, but was discontinued because the drug was found to be too dangerous.
GHB has been used as a recreational and date-rape drug for decades with many deaths reported in Germany, but has been only recently found in clubs in South Africa.
Composed of naturally occurring enzymes found in the human body, a special test has to be taken for GHB - one that is not available to most doctors in South Africa.
A 20-year-old woman called The Star after reading about 17-year-old Lezaan Kriel, who died at a party last year when it appeared that her drink had been spiked.
The autopsy came back clean, showing that Lezaan had died of heart failure. But her father Francois refused to accept the results, saying his daughter could not have died of natural causes at the age of 17. The woman thought Lezaan's death may be linked to GHB.
Five of the 20-year-old's friends landed in the intensive care unit after using GHB, but their blood and urine test results were clean.
Club scene frequenters, the friends took a few drops of the clear drug to keep them awake and euphoric on the dance floor.
They began vomiting and foaming at the mouth and couldn't remember what had happened to them. The hearts of two of them stopped beating, the woman said.
"My friends knew they had taken GHB, but doctors could not find anything in the tests, so it was assumed their drinks were spiked. But their drinks were not spiked.
"People are addicted to this drug and it is scary. People are dying and nobody realises it is because of GHB," she said. One of her friend's heart flat-lined four times before doctors were able to resuscitate her.
A specialist emergency doctor at Sunninghill Hospital in Sandton, Dr Graham Hutton, who is an expert in GHB and drug use, has seen a rise in patients coming to the hospital after overdosing on the drug.
"I have seen quite a few cases where people come into the hospital unconscious and vomiting. They suffer respiratory depression (stop breathing) and die.
"We don't know what is wrong with them when they first come in, but often the effects wear off quickly, and when the patients wake up, they admit to having used GHB," he said.
Hutton is writing up a case study for Wits University on GHB and has been investigating its usage in South Africa.
He said it is used as a date-rape drug because it causes amnesia, but most people are using it voluntarily. It is also very easily produced at home.
GHB is composed of natural enzymes found in the body, which increase the dopamine levels in the brain, Hutton explained, adding it was difficult to work out how much of the drug should be taken and that it was easy to overdose on it.
"At present in South Africa, postmortems don't test for GHB. They test for drugs like cocaine, acid, speed and heroin. There is a test available, but it has to be specially ordered," Hutton said.
The test has to be taken within 12 hours or it will not show up in the body. Hutton noted that the test was not admissible as evidence in court. Laboratories in South Africa currently do not test for GHB.
Cindy, a former drug addict, said she was well acquainted with GHB and described it as the "scariest drug".
She said the liquid, sold in small glass capsules, was cheap at about R50 for two trips.
Captain Jan Combrink of the SAPS Organised Crime Unit, said police had been aware of GHB for a long time.
"It is also known as 'liquid e' or 'grievous bodily harm'." He said police had not seen an increase in use of the drug.
What is GHB?
GHB or gamma-hydroxybutyric acid is a naturally occurring substance found in the central nervous system.
Synthesised into a chemical, it is also a commonly known date-rape drug, and is also used for recreation.
GHB can induce nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, agitation, depressed breathing, amnesia, unconsciousness and even death.
In general, the doses used recreationally are between 500mg and 3 000mg. GHB salt dissolved in water is dangerous because the concentration of GHB cannot be determined.
If alcohol has also been consumed, it can saturate the dehydrogenase enzymes and delay conversion, making it longer to take effect. People may re-dose, thinking it hasn't done anything ,which can lead to accidental overdose later when it eventually takes effect.
Determining conclusively whether someone's death was caused by GHB is very difficult, because a lab test will always detect the presence of some GHB in the human body, while levels of GHB can vary in the same individual, depending on what part of the body is tested.
GHB can be addictive and can result in psychological addiction as well as physical dependence. - Source: Wikipedia.
Dr Graham Hutton, who is based at Sunninghill Hospital, said that while there has been an increase in the number of patients coming into the emergency room after overdosing on GHB, by far the biggest killer on the club scene was alcohol mixed with energy drinks such as Red Bull.