Posted by Torrey on May 20, 1999, at 2:42:26
In reply to Re: Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate., posted by andrew on May 19, 1999, at 17:55:56
It is terribly sad to me when new psychoactive medicines, ones with huge potential to help many people, become "party drugs" that are used irresponsibly, with subsequent government prohibition. This is exactly what happened with LSD, and I fear it is rapidly becoming the fate of GHB.
For the record, GHB has been a used successfully in medicine for the treatment of sleep disorders, for general anethesia, as an aid to childbirth, and an anti-anxiety drug. This is in addition to its value in the treatment of alcoholism. In thirty years of clinical use, the addiction syndrome described by Andrew (and many others on the Net) was never encountered. It is important to distinguish between the use of GHB as a medical treatment on the one hand, and as a "recreational drug" on the other. Nearly all the adverse effects have been a consequence of the latter.
LSD showed *great* potential as a psycho-therapeutic agent. See, for instance, the research summarized in "LSD Psychotherapy" by Stanislav Grof. The problem was not with the medical use of LSD, but with the government's decision to make it illegal. This stopped nearly all scientific research and therapeutic use of LSD, making it instead a black market commodity, of highly dubious quality, vended to teenagers for thrills on Saturday night. Who is to blame for the bad, and even tragic, results - the drug? Or stupid, misguided government policies?
Every time I read another news story about a "GHB Overdose," I see history repeating itself. Media-spawned ignorance, fear, and legislative prohibitions are not the answer to the "drug problem". Scientific research, education, and controlled medical usage are.
Andrew wrote:
> understand, if you are contemplating using GHB as an antidepressant, that nowhere in the world is GHB being prescribed for that use. Its only legitimate use is to help recovering alcoholics. Also remember that back in the 60’s another party drug, LSD, was being touted by some as something that could be used to treat the mentally ill. Now we know how off base they were
poster:Torrey
thread:6228
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990501/msgs/6299.html