

We have also demonstrated the ability to detect both GBL and GHB in a range of liquid matrices simulating 'spiked' beverages. It has been demonstrated that we are able to detect GHB and GBL in a variety of containers including colourless and amber glass vials, plastic vials and polythene bags.
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We report the analysis of GHB as a sodium salt and GBL, its precursor, using bench-top and portable Raman spectroscopy. Therefore, we have studied both GHB and GBL, as a mildly acidic beverage 'spiked' with GHB will contain both GHB and GBL. Gamma hydroxybutyric acid and the corresponding lactone gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) will reach an equilibrium in solution which favours the lactone in basic conditions and GHB in acidic conditions (less than pH 4).

The drug is commonly found 'spiked' into alcoholic beverages, as alcohol increases its sedative effects. Gamma hydroxybutyric acid ( GHB), also known as 'liquid ecstasy', has recently become associated with drug-facilitated sexual assaults, known colloquially as 'date rape', due to the ability of the drug to cause loss of consciousness. Identification of the date-rape drug GHB and its precursor GBL by Raman spectroscopy.īrewster, Victoria L Edwards, Howell G M Hargreaves, Michael D Munshi, Tasnim Differences in the accessibility, purity, dosing, and misuse of illicit GHB and sodium oxybate suggest that risks associated with illicit GHB are greater than those associated with the pharmaceutical product sodium oxybate. Abuse and misuse of the pharmaceutical product, sodium oxybate, has been rare over the 5 years since its introduction to the market, which is likely due in part to the risk management program associated with this product. In the U.S., the prevalence of illicit GHB use, abuse, intoxication, and overdose has declined from 2000, the year that GHB was scheduled, to the present and is lower than that of most other licit and illicit drugs. Data are summarized from the scientific literature from national surveillance systems in the U.S., Europe, and Australia (for illicit GHB) and from clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance with sodium oxybate (Xyrem). This review highlights important differences between illicit GHB and sodium oxybate with regard to their relative abuse liability, which includes the likelihood and consequences of abuse. However, the acronym GHB is also used to refer to illicit formulations that are used for non-medical purposes. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate sodium and sodium oxybate are the chemical and drug names, respectively, for the pharmaceutical product Xyrem (sodium oxybate) oral solution. There are distinct differences in the accessibility, purity, dosing, and misuse associated with illicit gamma-hydroxybutyrate ( GHB) compared to pharmaceutical sodium oxybate. Illicit gamma-hydroxybutyrate ( GHB) and pharmaceutical sodium oxybate (Xyrem): differences in characteristics and misuse.Ĭarter, Lawrence P Pardi, Daniel Gorsline, Jane Griffiths, Roland R
