Until February 2000, laws regarding GHB and its analogs have been limited primarily to the state level. Enforcement has been slow. President Clinton signed the bill H.R. 2130 on February 18, 2000, which will make GHB, Ketamine, and GBL a Schedule 1 drug, while still allowing supervised use for narcolepsy. When and if GHB is approved for medical use by the FDA for narcolepsy, more specifically, cataplexy, it will go back to Schedule 3, but with Schedule 1 consequences for illicit use.

To follow the bill's progress from its inception to present, please log on to www.senate.gov and type in HR2130. All details of this bill are set out on these pages.

• SB 1561 (The Samantha Reid Date-Rape Drug Control Act of 1999) has merged into H.R. 2130 to be called The Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Drug Prohibition Act of 2000 

Making GHB Schedule 1 makes it a crime to possess, manufacture, or sell GHB or its precursors, with up to 20 years jail time for it. It will be in the same drug class as marijuana or heroin.

The Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Drug Prohibition Act of 2000  (HR 2130) in a nutshell:

• 6/10/1999-- Bill Introduced
• 10/12/99-- An over 2/3 majority vote was passed today in the U.S. House of Representatives
• 2/18/2000-- Signed by President Clinton who stated, "Making GHB a Schedule I controlled substance appropriately reflects the Congress' judgment that possession and distribution of GHB should be prohibited and that violators should be subject to stringent criminal sanctions."
• Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to add gamma hydroxybutyric acid to schedule I, ketamine to schedule III, and gamma butyrolactone as an additional list I chemical.
• Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to Congress annual reports providing an estimate of the number of incidents of the abuse of date-rape drugs that occurred during the most recent one-year period for which data are available.
• Requires the Secretary to develop a plan for carrying out a national campaign to educate young adults, youths, law enforcement personnel, educators, school nurses, counselors of rape victims, and hospital emergency room personnel on: (1) the dangers of the date-rape drugs; (2) the applicability of the CSA to such drugs, including penalties; (3) recognizing symptoms indicating that an individual may be a victim of such drugs, including symptoms of sexual assault; and (4) appropriately responding when an individual has such symptoms.
• Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory committee to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the plan.
• Sets forth provisions regarding plan implementation and evaluation
• Related links: The Samantha Reid Foundation

News on Legislation:

• Date Rape Drug Laws Pending Legislature in Missouri
• Other news...

STATES HAVING CONTROLLED GHB

To date (September 1999),25 states have controlled gamma hydroxy butyrate (GHB) in some fashion. Some of these states, especially if in Schedule III or IV, may have an analog problem. (Analogs are chemical cousins being sold as Blue Nitro, Renewtrient, Firewater, Serenity, etc. that have the same effect as GHB and in fact are turned into GHB in the body.) Those who have only criminalized GHB, but have not "controlled" it may also have an analog problem, unless analogs were specified in the legislation. Even if federal legislation is passed, each and every state MUST control GHB in order for local and state law enforcement agencies to be able to make arrests for possession, sales and manufacturing. Federal prosecution is limited to specific circumstances and usually to large-volume cases. For help initiating legislation in your state, contact Trinka Porrata via email at Equus555@worldnet.att.net.

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