[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 43 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H1410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             DANGERS OF GHB

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise again this morning to 
really encourage the House to move quickly to pass legislation to make 
illegal GHB. I have a bill, the Hillory J. Farias Date Rape Drug 
Prevention Act, H.R. 75, that I urge my colleagues to support.
  But I rise this morning to tell my colleagues the story of a young 
man by the name of Steve Brown from Illinois who overdosed on this 
dangerous drug back in September of 1998. He almost lost his life 
because the police, the paramedics, nor the emergency room doctors were 
aware of the harmful effects of GHB.
  Mr. Brown was a body builder who had used GHB as a recreational drug 
for years. Unfortunately, on that day in September, he took a dosage of 
the drug that proved to be almost fatal. He was found by his sister, 
Diane Brown, unconscious and unresponsive. When she called the 
paramedics she told them about his history with GHB, because they had 
no knowledge of what he had ingested.
  She also had to inform the emergency room doctors of the drug.
  Steve was unconscious for five hours. While in this state, his sister 
called her parents to tell them that they needed to travel to Illinois. 
His mother, unsure of what condition her son would be in when she 
arrived later said, ``I had to pack a dress for my only son's 
funeral.'' Thank goodness her son survived this ordeal.
  This near-tragedy should be a lesson to all of us about the dangers 
of GHB. Unless it is scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act 
soon, we may hear about more stories of young people who died 
unnecessarily because we did not act.
  I would like to thank Ms. Diane Brown for calling my office to share 
her story. I know that this experience has been painful for her family, 
but I am grateful that she felt compelled to speak out against GHB. I 
wish her family the best as they try to work through this situation.
  I ask my colleagues to support my bill so that we can assure Ms. 
Brown and her family that we do not want this drug to hurt another 
person. I want to send a message to those who would argue that this 
drug is safe, that it is not and that it can be deadly.
  Mr. Speaker, this drug is being manufactured by the bathtub loads. It 
is on the internet. We must hold hearings. And I am delighted with the 
interest of my colleagues on the Committee on Commerce and the 
Committee on the Judiciary to work together to stop the killing and the 
overdose of this dangerous unknown drug that has no taste and no smell 
that our young people are using. Mr. Speaker, let us get to work.

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