At its best, GHB ( Gamma Hydroxybutyrate ) is a cheap and euphoric high, a glamorous alternative to alcohol that elevates its users to a higher, happier, dream-like state.
At its worst, GHB is an expensive trip to the emergency room, an abrupt state of unconsciousness, a nightmarish sense of disorientation and the potential for the very unglamorous death of passing out, throwing up and choking on vomit.
GHB entered the drug alphabet of the party world several years ago and quickly became just one of those things that people try, along with ecstasy ( "X" or "E" ) , crystal meth ( crystal or "Tina" ) , ketamine ( "Special K" ) or poppers.
But as the number of overdoses and poisonings rise in Chicago, some advocates...including party promoters, club owners, performers and DJs...are calling for caution. While some are taking a zero-tolerance approach, others are urging users to know the facts before they indulge.
GHB at a glance
GHB is a central nervous system depressant taken orally as either a grainy, white or sand-colored powder that can be dissolved in water or alcohol, or as a liquid sold in small vials or bottles. It is also called liquid x, Georgia home boy, Goop, gamma-oh, Grievous Bodily Harm, Granny juice, cherry meth, Gamma 10, G-rrrifick, scoop, salty water and fantasy.
The average dose is one to five grams, which takes effect in 15 to 30 minutes and lasts from three to six hours, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. GHB works by slowing the heart rate and respiration, and can interfere with circulation, motor function and balance.
The ingredients used to make G are inconsistent, and one of its main dangers is its unpredictability. Overdoses often take place when people become impatient that its taking too long to kick in and take more than the recommended amount.
Tough Love
Raul Rodriguez, owner of promotions company JumpStart Productions, is one of those taking a tough-love approach.
After having four people overdose at his International Mr. Leather ( IML ) party, he decided to crack down at the Invasion party he threw at the Metro during Pride weekend.
Using security guards stationed at the entrance to Metro, he did intensive, voluntary searches of everyone who came in. Those who didn't consent to the search were turned away.
At the end of the night, Rodriguez said he had garbage cans full of drugs and paraphernalia.
His guards collected pills, eye droppers, poppers, viagra and candy, a collection that taught him a lot about G, he said. He later found out that users empty out their eye droppers and put G inside and that they use the candy to keep their blood sugar up while they're using.
Even with his efforts, he had problems at Invasion. "We were better safe than sorry. We did searches and still had three ( overdoses ) ," he said.
He blamed the ODs on the legal limitations on the kind of searches he could do and the ever-changing creativity of where people stash their drugs.
"It's gotten drastic enough that I think they should let us go for the crotch," he said in reference to rules that guards aren't allowed to go near partygoers' groin area.
The intensive searches also came at a price, including death threats the next day and $2,100 in lost revenue from the 84 people who refused to consent to the searches and left.
"I'm a little more aggressive with it because I can't live with myself at night," Rodriguez said. "The only thing I can do is throw my efforts behind education."
He criticized his colleagues for not taking a stance similar to his. "One person can't do it alone. All venues have to get together and have a stricter policy about drugs," he said. "They're more concerned with image than with safety."
"The scary thing is that we've all had overdoses," he said. Not everyone agrees that cracking down is the way to go, however. Dr. Eric Christoff, an internist who is on the board of the Hearts Foundation, said he doesn't think searches will solve the problem.
"A pat-down at the door won't prevent people from bringing it in," Christoff said. "It's a very intrusive, embarrassing thing to be searched in public."
The Hearts Foundation produces The Fireball Weekend, a circuit party that is one of the city's largest HIV/AIDS fund-raising events.
The Foundation has taken a different approach, relying on volunteers to carefully watch the dance floor and monitor for things that might be amiss.
"We have made an effort to look for these things and deal with them," he said.
People walk around and look for people who aren't doing well.
"We have been proactive about this," he said.
Education efforts
The Hearts Foundation is a member of the Electric Dreams Foundation, a California-based corporation organized around education and safer partying, said Allen Lungo of the Hearts Foundation board.
Electric Dreams members include promoters from around the world who try to educate each other about drug trends, Lungo said.
Compassion Action is a local education effort, and the Chicago Department of Public Health has launched an initiative on drug use in the GLBT community.
Others in the scene are doing their part to spread the word about G. Some bars now have flyers describing the dangers of G up in their bathrooms.
Matthew Harvat...a.k.a. Circuit Mom...is a performer and event producer who has made his stance on GHB clear through an angry email he sent out to about 600 people several months back.
The message detailed the death of a 23-year-old recent college grad he knew who overdosed on G during a night of partying. The man had never tried drugs before and was celebrating a lucrative job offer he'd just gotten.
Harvat said several hundred people responded to his note, 90% of them in support. The other 10% railed against him for stirring up paranoia about G and for being preachy.
Educating people about G was worth the flak, he said. "People take enough chances in their daily living," he said. "You're missing the point of what we're here for."
A happy high with a high cost
For those who have had good experiences with GHB, it's allure is its relative affordability, accessibility and happy high.
Sources said that $20 can get you one fluid ounce, the equivalent of about 14 doses. If you know where to go in town, it's almost impossible to spend a whole night without having it offered to you, either by friends or dealers. The ingredients to make GHB can also be ordered from the Internet at a cost of about 50 cents per dose.
The problem, advocates say, is that it's almost impossible to predict what will happen when you take G, even if you're an experienced user. A dose that made you high one week could knock you out the next, entering the scary state of unconsciousness called a "G nap" or a "G coma." Its effect depends on the potency of the dose taken, the users' weight, how much food is in their stomach and whether they've had any other drugs.
"There really is no safe dose," said Bill Bennett, a popular Detroit DJ and registered nurse. "There's no way to know what you're getting."
Bennett has played several parties in Chicago and did his final research paper in school on club drugs. There is an extensive discussion of drugs on his Web site, www.djbillbennett.com, which averages about 5,000 hits a month.
"Kids have no idea what they're playing with," he said, adding that it's worth his efforts if he can stop one person from trying G. "You're playing Russian roulette."
John, a Chicago club-goer who asked that his real name not be used, has taken up a one-man crusade against GHB.
" ( GHB ) is like the hardest thing in the world to dose," he said. "There are a million factors around it that make it too dangerous to do."
John had a bad experience with G back in March, when he tried it for the first time. He and a friend shared a bottle of water dosed with G early one night and felt fine, partying and staying out until early the next morning.
On their way home that morning, John found a bottle of what he assumed was water in his friend's back pocket and drank the entire thing.
Shortly after, his entire persona changed, and he became violent and aggressive.
"You know what's going on, and you can't really stop it," he said. "It's a horrible epidemic and it's a horrible drug."
Next week: Part 4: 'G-ing out,' or 'Crossing Over.'
For more information about GHB and other club drugs, visit these Web sites:
www.dancesafe.org
www.pillreports.com
www.erowid.org
www.partyplanet.com ( home of the Electric Dreams Foundation )
www.djbillbennett.com
www.clubdrugs.org
www.dea.gov