Verdicts highlight dangers of GHB

By Jen Fish

Daily Staff Reporter

Guilty verdicts were handed down this week in trials against four Detroit-area men accused of poisoning 15-year-old Samantha Reid of Rockwood with GHB in January 1999.

Jurors convicted three of the men on charges of involuntary manslaughter and the fourth was found guilty on counts of being an accessory after the fact, poisoning, delivery of marijuana and possession of GHB.

While the trial has brought the "date rape" drug back into the limelight, the University has been working to educate students about the danger of GHB for months.

University Health Services and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center both publish brochures on the drug, which are distributed to students living in residence halls. Additionally, Department of Public Safety officers and SAPAC volunteers are trained to present educational lectures on the drug, which has been linked to more than 58 deaths and at least 5,700 overdoses in the past decade.

GHB was already banned in Michigan before President Clinton signed a law last month making possessing, manufacturing and distributing the drug a federal offense.

Concern about the drug's presence on campus was raised in October, when three University students were hospitalized for overdosing on GHB. In response, members of University Health Services and the University Hospitals' emergency room held a press conference about the drug.

Although GHB has been known as a date rape drug, experts have noted that the drug has increasingly been used for recreational purposes. The drug is primarily used to heighten the effects of alcohol, and can be easily mixed into drinks, as was the case in the death of Samantha Reid.

While the University is working to educate students on this issue, interim UHS Director Robert Winfield said the "paramount problem" on campus continues to be alcohol abuse.

"This is not to diminish the dangers of GHB, but it is our impression that it is not the major problem. Our public health community has be focused, and right now, the focus is on alcohol," Winfield said, citing a study conducted last fall by the Substance Abuse Research Center concluding that binge drinking was a problem on campus.

Alcohol-related incidents are of more concern "in terms of total population," Winfield said, since excessive drinking can contribute to school failure, violence, rape and potentially fatal driving accidents.

SAPAC Education and Training Coordinator Alicia Rinaldi said that in relation to date rape drugs, alcohol is a more widespread problem.

The issue of sexual assault and drugs "has been going on for awhile," Rinaldi said. There are "many different levels, and many different drugs," she added.

The University plans to integrate more information about GHB into its orientation programs.

Office of New Student Programs Assistant Director Christian Garcia said alcohol use is a subject specifically targeted in the University's freshman orientation, but there is a "very strong possibility" GHB education will be added.