GHB is actually a naturally occurring substance that is found in the human body, in wine and beer as a byproduct of fermentation, in smaller citrus fruits, and in nearly all animals. It has also been synthesized in laboratories for use as a neuroprotective therapeutic drug since 1874.

The drug, typically synthesized in the form of a potassium or sodium salt, has been used over the years as a general anesthetic as well as for the treatment of such maladies as insomnia, depression, alcoholism and narcolepsy.

During the 1970s, the drug, whether stolen from medical facilities or illegally produced, began to appear on the club scene. Users reported feeling euphoric and more sociable under the influence of GHB, claiming that the drug enhanced their club experience.

GHB is often called liquid ecstasy, as the drug in its salt form is typically dissolved into water and then imbibed as a quick shot at raves and nightclubs. There is ample evidence that GHB has also been employed by sexual predators as a date rape drug similar to Rohypnol, as it is easy to slip into someone’s drink. GHB is also colorless, odorless, and, depending upon its synthesized salt form, can have very little taste, making it ideal for nefarious sexual purposes.

Another interesting characteristic of GHB is the “rebound effect” that many users report. GHB has a biphasic effect upon dopamine release within the brain, resulting in a user awakening suddenly and feeling fully alert after initially using the drug as a sleeping agent. In effect, this gives the drug the paradoxical property of being both a depressant and a stimulant depending upon its action within the brain.

Another dichotomy involving GHB is that the drug is classified as both a Schedule I and a Schedule III substance; its status contingent upon who is actually in possession of the substance. As a Schedule I substance, GHB and its two prodrugs (substances that convert to GHB in the human body) GBL (gamma-butyrolactone) and 1, 4, butanediol, are illegal to distribute or possess within the United States. But when it is marketed as the drug Xyrem, typically prescribed to severe narcoleptics to aid them in attaining more patterned sleep, GHB is listed as a Schedule III substance making it legal to possess with a prescription.

In addition, there is a large contingent of persons, many medical professionals among them, who feel that the medical benefits of GHB far outweigh the drug’s deleterious effects that they claim have been exaggerated by an unchecked FDA. They claim the drug has no long-term health risks and are currently fighting for the drug’s increased legal status.

Many believe that GHB-related deaths, including the death of River Phoenix, cannot be attributed to the drug’s action within the body and are usually a result of some other factor, such as a user passing out and choking on their own vomit, which does indeed, as they point out, happen far more often with alcohol.

But from what I’ve read about the habit-forming nature of GHB and from the high-risk of overdose associated with the substance, I honestly feel that many of these so-called medical professionals may be being a bit irresponsible in their attempts to increase GHB’s prevalence within the medical community, and may very well, in fact, be users of the drug themselves.