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“INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION REGARDING GHB, A DATE RAPE DRUG” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H1024-H1025 on March 9, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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 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.
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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.
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