[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 9, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1024-H1025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION REGARDING GHB, A DATE RAPE DRUG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this morning I rise to thank 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) and the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Klink) for the hearing that they will hold this week 
as part of the responsibilities of the Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations of the Committee on Commerce. This coming Thursday, that 
hearing will be held, and I will testify before the Committee on 
Commerce on GHB, a date rape drug. This uncontrolled substance has been 
used to commit date rape by rendering victims helpless to defend 
themselves against attack.
  The GHB legislation that I am sponsoring, H.R. 75, is a result of a 
tragedy that took place in Texas involving a young woman named Hillory 
J. Farias. Hillory was a 17-year-old athlete and model student who died 
from an overdose of GHB on August 5, 1996. Throughout the 105th 
Congress, we worked very hard to hold hearings to introduce this 
legislation and to introduce this Congress to the importance

[[Page H1025]]

and the tragedies of the abuse of GHB. Hillory and two friends went out 
to a club on the night she died. This was a teenagers club, a club that 
did not sell alcohol. While at the club, she drank only soda. Later 
that evening she complained of feeling sick and her friends took her 
home with a severe headache. The next morning her grandmother found her 
unconscious and not breathing. Hillory was rushed to the hospital where 
she tragically died.

                              {time}  1100

  Hillory was an outstanding athlete, well loved and respected by her 
fellow peers. Hillory was a good young lady and, therefore, did not 
deserve this tragic death.
  Hillory's death is not the first instance of GHB overdose. In Los 
Angeles, three men were convicted of using GHB to drug and rape several 
women. The police found photos depicting sex between the men and the 
unconscious women. At a New Year's Eve party in 1996, 30 to 50 people 
collapsed after ingesting GHB. All these victims survived.
  Parents, have you heard of the so-called rave parties that are taking 
the country by a rave? These are teenage parties where GHB is used. The 
GHB formula can be found on your Internet. GHB can be made in bathtubs 
by bathtub loads to be able to be utilized by large masses of people. 
To date there have been 19 deaths officially caused by GHB. There are 
undoubtedly other deaths that may not have been classified as GHB 
related because the drug is not part of standard toxicology screen. How 
many parents are not aware of their young people using GHB?
  The Drug Enforcement Administration has been working on placing this 
drug on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act at the Federal 
level. My bill, H.R. 75, directs the Attorney General to schedule GHB 
as a Schedule I drug and to establish programs throughout the country 
to educate young people about the use of controlled substances.
  GHB has been used to render victims helpless, to defend against 
attack, and it even erases memory of the attack, making law enforcement 
activities very difficult. It is responsible for as many as 60 
emergency room admissions in the past 6 months in Houston, Texas alone.
  GHB is not legally produced in the United States. It is being 
smuggled across our borders, or it is being illegally created here. The 
recipe for this drug can be accessed, as I said earlier, on the 
Internet.
  Scheduling a drug on the Federal Controlled Substances Act allows 
prosecutors to punish anyone who uses a scheduled drug in any sexual 
assault crime to suffer penalties on the Drug-induced Rape Prevention 
and Punishment Act.
  This is an act that cannot be done by one committee and one group of 
Members alone. We look forward to working with the Committee on 
Commerce in this oversight committee, to work with the Food and Drug 
Administration to encourage it to hurry with its studies and to be 
collaborative and cooperative, to stop this abuse of this drug.
  It is extremely important that we make sure that we schedule this 
drug as Schedule I to ensure that we stop the abuse, but also the 
tragic loss of life. I believe that we must do whatever we can do to 
stop the abuse of these harmful drugs. We must work with all of the 
parties who are interested to ensure that this occurs.
  I hope that my colleagues will support this legislation and our 
effort to protect women and others from the violent crime of sexual 
assault through these drugs, but, as well, to ensure that our young 
people are safe. Let us strike in a chord of cooperation and 
bipartisanship and ensure that there is a speedy response to GHB by 
scheduling it as Schedule I. We call upon both the Department of 
Justice and the FDA to work with us to move this along as quickly as we 
can.
  On Thursday, I will testify before the Commerce Committee on Gamma 
Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) a date-rape drug. This uncontrolled substance has 
been used to commit date rape by rendering victims helpless to defend 
themselves against attack.
  The GHB legislation that I am sponsoring, H.R. 75, is the result of a 
tragedy that took place in Texas involving a young woman named Hillory 
J. Farias. Hillory was a 17-year-old athlete and model student who died 
from an overdose of GHB on August 5, 1996.
  Hillory and two friends went out to a club on the night she died. 
While at the club, she only drank soda. Later that evening, she 
complained of feeling sick and her friends took her home with a severe 
headache. The next morning, her grandmother found her unconscious and 
not breathing. Hillory was rushed to the hospital where she died.
  Hillory's death is not the first instance of GHB overdose. In Los 
Angeles, three men were convicted of using GHB to drug and rape several 
women. The police found photos depicting sex between the men and the 
unconscious women. At a New Year's Eve party in 1996, 30 to 50 people 
collapsed after ingesting GHB. All of these victims survived.
  To date, there have been 19 deaths officially caused by GHB. There 
are undoubtedly other deaths that may not have been classified as GHB-
related because the drug is not a part of a standard toxicology screen.
  The Drug Enforcement Administration has been working on placing this 
drug on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act at the federal 
level. My bill, H.R. 75 directs the Attorney General to schedule GHB as 
a Schedule I drug and to establish programs throughout the country to 
educate young people about the use of controlled substances.
  GHB has been used to render victims helpless to defend against attack 
and it even erases any memory of the attack. It is responsible for as 
many as 60 emergency room admissions in the past six months in Houston.
  GHB is not legally produced in the United States. It is being 
smuggled across our borders or it is being illegally created here. The 
recipe for this drug can be accessed on the Internet!
  Scheduling a drug on the Federal Controlled Substances Act allows 
prosecutors to punish anyone who uses a scheduled drug in any sexual 
assault crime to suffer penalties under the Drug Induced Rape 
Prevention and Punishment Act.
  I believe we must do whatever we can to stop the abuse of these 
harmful drugs. I hope my Colleagues will support this legislation and 
our efforts to protect women and others from the violent crime of 
sexual assault through these drugs.

                          ____________________