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<br /> h euet tlio-AgnCUltural ~KwCe9 lnc. II BOB-32B-9760 751131197 'J 2:1 B NM lJ 1/1 4 <br /> .,v„Q„ <br /> RE ~-IVED <br /> Tltne..-_'-' - By 7'-------------_' <br /> Department Counry Council <br /> of Health Services wrote a report on ten "poisonings" associated with GHB. <br /> The authors, Chin and Kreutzer, warned of GHB's "tremendous potential for <br /> abuse." They observed that "all interviewed patients reported a <br /> pleasurable <br /> sensation or a 'high.' Several of them...continued taking [GHB] because it <br /> made them 'feel good'." Apparently, the authors construed feeling good in <br /> and of itself as a potential threat to public health. Despite such dire <br /> language, the report acknowledged that "there are no documented reports <br /> of <br /> long-term [detrimental] effects. Nor is there any evidence for physiologic <br /> addiction." <br /> Of the ten "poisonings" reported, four involved "unknown doses," four <br /> featured the "coingestion" of other drugs, (usually alcohol), one involved <br /> unmedicated epilepsy, and another a history of grand mal seizures. Since <br /> alcohol and other central nervous system (CNS) depressants are not <br /> recommended with GHB, and because GHB is contraindicated for epileptics, <br /> such cases are not unexpected. Chin and Kreutzer acknowledge that the <br /> "more <br /> severe reactions...generally occurred when patients took an unmeasured <br /> dose, <br /> a particularly large dose, or several doses within a short period of time." <br /> Such problems are easily avoided by following the directions for GHB's <br /> use. <br /> Although the specific clinical details of these ten cases are too lengthy to <br /> go into here, one point needs addressing the use of the terms "coma" <br /> and <br /> "seizures" in descriptions of these cases. At a sufficiently high dose, GHB <br /> can cause clonus, a rapid, rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscles <br /> which would be better described as muscle spasm or uncontrollable <br /> twitching <br /> than a seizure. GHB can also cause intense drowsiness, abrupt sedation, <br /> and <br /> deep sleep which is probably better described as unarrousability or deep <br /> sedation than coma. Vickers [1969] described ii as a "nontoxic coma," <br /> which <br /> blunts some of the inflammatory connotations of the term coma. 7g O` <br /> Coma~? Diw_.~..,,_ <br /> H11e loo. HCr+ <br /> Htef. '!'ot Prosented 4 ~v~ <br /> 7 19SI7 <br /> Fief. L?ate_ <br /> <br />