Γ-Hydroxybutyric acid
Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (4-hydroxybutanoic acid, C4H8O3) is both a drug and a naturally occurring compound found in mammalian brain, where it could well function as a neurotransmitter. As a drug it is used most commonly in the form of a chemical salt (Na-GHB or K-GHB). It temporarily inhibits dopamine release and stimulates pituitary growth hormone (GH) release.
It has been used as a general anesthetic and as a hypnotic in the treatment of insomnia, particularly in the treatment of narcolepsy under the trade name Xyrem. In addition, it is used by body-builders for its boost to GH release, in the treatment for alcoholism, to aid child-birth, or recreationally as an intoxicant (as GHB, G, Liquid X, Liquid E, GBH, Gamma-oh, Georgia Home Boy, Blue Verve, Grievous Bodily Harm).
GHB was first synthesized in the early 1960s by Dr. Henri Laborit to use in studying the neurotransmitter GABA. It quickly found a wide range of uses due to its minimal side effects and controlled action, the only difficulty being the narrow safe dosage range. It should not be taken with alcohol.
Excessive doses can lead to unconsciousness. The Australian practice of putting ice cubes into the rectum of GHB users who have fallen unconscious has no medical benefits.
Its use recreationally and as a date rape drug in the 1990s led to it being placed in the US on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act in March 2000. In the UK it was made a class C drug in June 2003.
At low doses GHB can cause a state of euphoria and/or drunkenness. This kind of use is particularly common at rave parties.
GBL, or gamma-butyrolactone, a chemical precursor of GHB, has effects very similar to GHB but is argued to be more toxic.
1,4 Butanediol is legal, sold on the internet, and has almost indentical effects to GHB, supposedly because it breaks down into GHB when digested.
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