CEBU CITY – An official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 said the newly discovered Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, a liquid type of ecstasy, may have entered Central Visayas.

PDEA 7 director Jeffrey Bangsa said even without an actual statistics of individuals victimized by GHB, they can always assume that such illegal drugs have already reached the region. “If Manila has it, we could not discount that the presence of the GHB is also here in Cebu City or other neighboring municipalities,” he added.

GHB, considered as a club drug or a “date rape” drug, was seized by National Bureau of Investigation agents in a raid in Mandaluyong City Tuesday night.

Bangsa said this is the first anti-illegal drug enforcement in the country involving GHB, adding that the drug has been in existence in other countries.

Young professionals and moneyed individuals are the market of this type of illegal drug, Bangsa said. “It is also called liquid ecstasy. It is usually used in parties, clubs. So this GHB, its targets are somehow the young professionals or party goers belonging to the affluent category,” he added.

He said the wholesale price of GHB is P10,000 for 100 milliliters.

The street price is higher, as reported by the NBI.

The reason why GHB is also called a “date rape” drug is its effect. If a person takes a minimum dosage of it, he or she will fall in a deep sleep for two to three hours, Bangsa said.

He warned that over-dosage of the liquid ecstasy could lead to death.*PNA

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