Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jan 2001
Source: Northwest Florida Daily News (FL)
Copyright: 2001 Northwest Florida Daily News
Contact:  http://www.nwfdailynews.com/
Author: Jeff Ayres

DRUG USE ON THE RISE

Law enforcement officials say ecstasy and the 'date-rape drug' GHB are the 
favorite choices.

Colorless and odor free, it's hard to detect when slipped into a mixed drink.

But the effects of GHB on the men and women who take it - knowingly or 
unwittingly - are becoming quite clear to local law enforcement personnel 
and emergency medical workers.

Gamma hydroxybutyrate has caused hundreds of deaths and an untold number of 
overdoses nationally and been linked increasingly to sexual assaults. 
Locally, recreational usage of the "date-rape drug" and other designer 
drugs are on the rise.

"We're seeing more cases involving GHB and ecstasy," said Larry Donaldson, 
a lieutenant with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and head of the 
county's Multi-Agency Drug Task Force. "They're becoming the drug of choice 
for young people."

Statistics on the number of people who use these drugs are difficult to 
gather. Law enforcement agencies do not keep statistics on designer drug 
arrests. But at least 19 people have died in Florida from designer-drug 
overdoses in the last three years.

The final annual report from National Drug Control Policy Chief Barry 
McCaffrey cited an "explosive increase" in the use of designer drugs among 
young people. Other national studies have indicated use among high school 
students has doubled during the past two years.

Designer drugs provide an energy boost and make their users less inhibited, 
but those effects come at a high cost, said Bob Munson, assistant director 
for addictions and substance abuse at the Bridgeway Center.

"They are dangerous, addictive drugs," Munson explained. "Both ecstasy and 
GHB are considered 'Schedule 1' drugs, in that they have no accepted 
medical use and have a high abusive potential."

A local high school student has seen what such drugs can do. The student, 
who wished to remain anonymous, recalled how a friend of his collapsed at a 
party and "wound up in a pool of blood" after ingesting a drink believed to 
have been spiked with GHB.

Medics were able to revive the boy, and the fluid was pumped from his 
system. But the student said the experience was an eye-opener. "It made me 
realize you're too young to screw up your life."

Nightclubs and bars are a common site for designer drugs like GHB and 
methelynedioxymethamphetamine, also known as MDMA or ecstasy. They can 
easily be slipped into a drink or otherwise passed from one person to the next.

"That stuff has reared its ugly head," said James "J.J." Johnson, director 
of operations at three of Okaloosa County's most prominent nightspots. "I 
just don't understand why people do it."

Dr. Carl Glidden, who specializes in emergency medicine at Fort Walton 
Beach Medical Center, said the hospital has admitted its share of GHB users 
over the years; cases involving ecstasy are also prevalent.

"Most people know what amount of ecstasy to take, but with the number of 
strains of GHB out there," it's hard for many GHB users to know just how 
much of the drug they're taking, he said.

GHB was legal until 1991, and was popular with bodybuilders as a muscle 
stimulant found in health drinks. But the unpredictable side effects of the 
drug, from nausea to amnesia, caused it to be banned by the Food and Drug 
Administration.

GHB's is commonly called the date rape drug because women are often 
sexually assaulted while under the drug's influence.

Just a few drops of GHB can render a user unconscious, and could even leave 
that person in a coma, or dead.

Glidden said there have been a couple GHB-related deaths in the last few 
years at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, including one man who drowned in 
his own vomit after being overcome by the drug.

Other people, he said, have had close calls.

"They come in here almost clinically dead, and in some cases they just 
abruptly wake up like nothing happened," Glidden said.

Ecstasy has been a fixture on the club/party scene worldwide for well over 
a decade. It's commonly taken by clubgoers at all-night "rave" dances to 
boost stamina.

Local authorities say ecstasy isn't as pervasive as it once was, but that 
doesn't mean the narcotic has lost any luster among drug users.

Tom Matz, who leads the Fort Walton Beach Police Department's street crimes 
unit, said a tablet of ecstasy, commonly called "E" or "XTC" on the street, 
sells for $25 to $30 these days.

Some ecstasy has been found on students in Okaloosa County, but designer 
drugs in general have not found a way into the county's schools, said Lt. 
Don Fountain, who oversees the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office school 
resource officer program.

He said drug-related investigations at county schools are down by 
two-thirds from last school year.

Santa Rosa County's school system wasn't as fortunate.

In early 2000, two teens were arrested in unrelated cases for allegedly 
possessing or selling GHB at Milton High School.

Two female MHS students had to be hospitalized after taking the drug.
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