Two accused over £4.4m GHB (GBL) haul

[psyki]

(Psyki: Wow, is this anyone we "know"? People ordering cleaning products should be careful...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/5015494.stm

Two accused over £4.4m GHB haul

Two people have appeared in court in connection with the seizure of £4.4m worth of the "date rape drug", GHB, at a house in Livingston.

Denise Macpherson, 45, and Hanan Rabin, 53, are charged with exporting a derivative of GHB to the US.

They are also accused of supplying the drug from an address in West Lothian.

A Hebrew interpreter will have to be found to continue the case against Mr Rabin on Friday. Ms Macpherson was granted bail.

They were arrested on Wednesday following an operation led by investigators from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA).

Raids took place on Ms Macpherson's home in Chestnut Grove, Livingston, and at the Eucal Business Centre on Craigshill Road.

We have seen GHB and Rohypnol in fairly small quantities in Edinburgh before but never anything like this
Tom Wood
Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action

Ms Macpherson and Mr Rabin, of St Peter's Place, Edinburgh, appeared in private at Linlithgow Sheriff Court.

Both are charged with exporting GBL (gamma-butyro lactone) to the US between 19 April and 24 May 24.

They are also accused of supplying the substance from her home between the same dates.

Ms Macpherson is also charged with the possession of cannabis.

Dance culture

GBL is used to make GHB and is often sold by itself. It is orally ingested and turns into GHB in the body, having the same effect.

Also known as liquid ecstasy, GHB is an odourless, colourless liquid sedative which became popular in dance culture.

It is is a powerful anaesthetic which effectively "knocks out" victims and leaves them with no recollection of what has happened.

The Home Office made GHB illegal in 2003, reclassifying it to Class C status.

Possession of the drug without a medical prescription is punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years, while supplying the drug carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

Clubbers also use the substance to create a feeling of euphoria as in small quantities it acts as an anti-depressant.

Major operation

Tom Wood, chairman of the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action, said it was a "very significant" recovery of "GHB".

He said: "We have seen GHB and Rohypnol in fairly small quantities in Edinburgh before but never anything like this.

"It has clearly been a major operation and sounds to me like it was intelligence-led.

"It is very concerning to find such a haul because it shows the quantity of drugs in circulation."

Graham Rhodes, of the Roofie Foundation, which runs a helpline for victims of drug rape, said: "This is not an urban myth, we get 800 to 900 new victims calling us every year."

[BlueMystic]

Wonder what the actual amount seized was. We all know how they come up with these numbers (£4.4m).

On the bright side. At least there may be a small reduction of date rapes that may have occurred otherwise.

[Abrad]

Does anyone know how prevalent date rape actually is?
SWIM is aware of several girls who after claiming they have had their drinks spiked went to hospital the next day only to find that there was no trace of anything other than alcohol in their system. Neither girls were raped (thankfully), but it seems that they lost track of how much they drank, got more drunk that they intended, and assumed their drinks were spiked. I am sure it does happen but am a little sceptical that it is as common as we are led to believe.

[BlueMystic]

^ Have no clue how prevalent it is. Just wish it didn't happen at all.

Me thinks that legalized/controlled/taxed prostitution would help remedy these rape type of scenario's. Wouldn't be 100% effective, but I think that it would drastically cut down on violent and sexually based crimes. Seems to work in Europa.

[turkeyphant]

The BBC article has a very misleading title. Neither of these people were in possession of or had supplied GHB. They only dealt in GBL which is legal in the UK. I don't see that it should have been seized as there are plenty of legitimate uses for it.

However, obviously shipping it to the US where it is scheduled is illegal.

[garbled]

I smell the DEA somewhere here...

[cj.mckay]

Hi,

That's just another batch of government propaganda, I'm afraid. The cops seized a few bottles of GBL from a house and then made it out to be a major drugs bust. The only thing these people have done 'wrong' is to mail GBL to the USA where it's illegal. News agencies routinely multiply the value of 'drug' seizures to give the stories more impact.

Although GBL and GHB COULD be used as a 'date rape' drug; so could virtually all benzodiazepines and tranquilzers/sleeping meds. Literally thousands of different substances; most of them LEGAL.. This is a factor which news writers choose to ignore as they seek out the next 'drug horror story.' Once again, I would point out that legal alcohol kills and maims millions of people per year. I wonder how many people are actually harmed by GHB/GBL each year? 100? 1000? certainly only a tiny fraction of those harmed by G_.

I have to agree with BlueMystic who states that legalized prostitution in the UK would reduce rape and sexual crimes - I would go further and say that all forms of activity, including all drug use, should be legalized as long as the activity is not harmful to anyone other than those engaged in the activities. What the f- are they going to ban next? Rock climbing? Surfing? Heavy metal guitar? There are plenty of activities which are more dangerous than an occasional 1.5ml of GBL...

UK and US governments are increasingly trying to 'protect' citizens from themselves. Or so they say. Actually our governments are really conducting socialogical experiments in homogenizing society. If you stigmatize all forms of 'deviant' behaviour then you make most people more easily controlled. Once upon a time it was gays. Now it is smokers and recreational/self medicating drug users who are in line for a good kicking from those at the top.

As Albert Einstein wrote:

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions."

If you forbid and terrorize people into never experimenting with new experiences then you make them even less likely to be able to form original opinions! Of course, this is exactly what modern western governments desire. A populace of Prozac'ed imbecilles grinning their shallow way between a hateful job and a dull TV-based home life; perhaps punctuated by the occasional drinking binge. Inbred cash-cows to feed the desires of the 1% who own everything and control society. Sounds like paranoia? It's just the facts, ma'm.

Of course, those who make these rules which we have to live by all have their own 'private physicians' so THEY can get any drug they like whenever they want it. Speed, Heroin, Tranx- all just a phone call away for Presidents and Prime Ministers. After all, they have to be 'wide awake' and 'pain-free' as they protect our freedom..lol.

What a wonderful country we now live in. Who would have thought, back in '97, that this government would turn out to be even more corrupt and authoritarian than the previous virtual-Nazi Conservative one?

God help us all. Man certainly won't.

CJ.

[darawk]

Date rapes involving GHB are extremely rare. Alcohol is much more commonly used to "date rape" someone than GHB is.