In other words, there is no reliable relationship between the amount of GHB you take and what happens to you. A dose that gets you high tonight might land you in the emergency room tomorrow, or in Tahiti two days from now. GHB isn't a biological agent, it's the devil in a teaspoon^*!

      Perfectly untrue. Granted, the borderline between doses that will make an individual euphoric^* vs. dormant is thin, but the areas enclosed are reasonably wide (That is, most people have a good margin between an effective dose and a soporific^* one, but there may not be much warning that a dose is close to pushing them over). All other things (e.g., mental state, physical fatigue, presence of food in the stomach) being equal, GHB's effects vary no more than other drugs'. Even opponents of GHB admit, in more sober moments, that the dose-response curve does exist [34].

      GHB does slow one's breathing, and this tends to make medical professionals very jumpy. Not knowing why their patient has such depressed respiration, they intubate^*, and when the GHB wears off in its natural handful of hours, credit themselves with a daring raid into the very keep of death to steal back the precious soul under their care. What they do not know is that GHB's other physiological effects cause those sparse breaths to take in more air, and may also induce changes in oxygen use and metabolism that leave actual oxygen/carbon dioxide levels unchanged [45].

     Please know that I'm not talking about GHB mixed with alcohol, heroin, marijuana, Valium or other benzodiazepides, SSRIs like Prozac, MAO inhibitors, or anything else. Alcohol and other depressants, at least, have been shown to truly make GHB as dangerous as you may have heard.

     Note: The above may appear belittling of physicians, nurses, EMTs, and others who labor for our health. I in fact have great respect for those who seek to understand the body and all its wonderful mechanisms, and who use them for the good of others. In the absence of other useful knowledge, their reaction to GHB-induced coma is not even unreasonable. In terms of treating the condition, however, it is wildly inappropriate. Thus, it is up to the user to stay out of their hands!

      Forget GHB! Did you know there's a drug regularly used by well over 50% of the population that's made out of an EXPLOSIVE metal and a POISON gas? And it can cause heart attacks! Paint thinner don't look so bad anymore, eh?

      The chemically-educated probably recognize the substance in the above rant as NaCl, table salt. The situation with GHB is similar: Gamma-butyrolactone, which is a chemical in industrial solvents, and sodium hydroxide^*, the active ingredient in lye^*, undergo a chemical change on the molecular level which makes them into something quite user-friendly. It is for the purpose of ensuring that whatever you consume is, in fact, real GHB without any of the above adulterants that I recommend you make your own.

      The only case I have ever heard that can possibly be interpreted this way is the Hillory Farias story, which has been totally discredited.

      GHB was first synthesized by Henri Laborit in 1960 as a possible anaesthetic and a method of raising GABA^* levels in the brain. Since then, hundreds of studies have administered widely varying quantities to alcoholics, narcoleptics, chronic depressives, pregnant women, and the occasional "normal." What we know about GHB fills volumes, and one persistent piece of knowledge that bridges the span of decades is that no study has ever reported any of the dire effects alleged by prohibitionists.

      So, in a way, I suppose they are right. GHB is a drug about which they know nothing.