The Food and Drug Administration’s approval of GHB - more commonly known as the “date-rape drug” - to treat narcolepsy is a big step in the wrong direction.
GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate, is a drug known to trigger unconsciousness and cause short-term memory loss, which has led to its notorious reputation as a tool to take advantage of women at parties. It also has gained popularity as a club drug and as an alternative to steroids. The fact that it can disappear from the body in as little as 24 hours adds to its appeal, making it nearly impossible to trace.
And by making GHB, or Xyrem to the FDA, legitimate, even if only in a tightly regulated form, stands to put more people in danger, either in a party situation or by causing severe health problems.
In some cases, GHB can prove fatal, it’s responsible for 58 deaths and 5,800 overdoses from 1990 to 2000.
Five of those deaths were in Michigan.
University health officials have long-warned students about the dangers of GHB, reiterating the importance of watching after their drinks at parties, and never letting anybody get a drink for them. Fortunately, there have been no GHB-related fatalities at MSU.
But in spite of these warnings, the FDA has gone forward with legalizing GHB in some cases, despite other options to treat narcolepsy. Critics of the FDA’s decision point to studies showing that GHB is only 70-percent effective in treating the sleep disorder, while Prozac is more than 90-percent reliable in achieving the same result.
One would expect a drug such as GHB, with its risks and side effects, would be set aside in favor of something better.
Every drug has the potential to be abused, but few have the power to be used as a a sexual predator’s weapon like GHB. This drug’s reputation serves as a powerful temptation for misguided people to use it to rape someone.
The kind of abuse GHB carries is far more baggage than society needs. The potential severity of the drug’s abuse - by whatever name you call it - far outweighs any good it can accomplish.
