Unfortunate Events Led to Tragedy One case of GHB use ended in tragedy. On January 16th, 1999, three girls told their parents they were going to a movie, but instead they ended up at a party at someone's house. Some kids were drinking alcohol and some were smoking marijuana. One of the girls, ninth-grader Samantha, asked for a Mountain Dew. A 19-year old boy got it for her. At one point, she told her friend the soda tasted "gross," but she drank it. A few minutes later she vomited and passed out. She was moved onto the bathroom floor, beside another 14-year-old girl, Melanie, who also passed out after having a drink. Once the boys became concerned that they could not wake the girls, they took them to the hospital. Both girls fell into comas. Melanie recovered, but Samantha never regained consciousness and died in the hospital. In February 2000 the four males involved (ages 18, 19, and 26) went on for the death of Samantha and the poisoning of the other girls, one of whom ingested some GHB but had no symptoms. This was the first of a GHB-related death. The younger males were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and lesser charges of poisoning. The 26-year-old was convicted of being an accessory to manslaughter, poisoning, and possession of marijuana and GHB. The jail time for the manslaughter convictions is up to 15 years; the jail time for the poisoning convictions can be up to 5 years. Amphetamines Amphetamines are drugs such as dextroamphetamine, benzedrine, and Ritalin. Amphetamines were originally developed to treat asthma, sleep disorders (narcolepsy) and hyperactivity. In 1920, a drug called "ephedrine" was used to treat asthma. In , the ma huang plant (Ephedra vulgaris) had been used for centuries to treat people with asthma. It is no wonder that the plant worked...the ma huang plant contains ephedrine. In 1932, synthetic ephedrine was sold "over-the-counter" and was available without a
Unfortunate Events Led to Tragedy One case of GHB use ended in tragedy. On January 16th, 1999, three girls told their parents they were going to a movie, but instead they ended up at a party at someone's house. Some kids were drinking alcohol and some were smoking marijuana. One of the girls, ninth-grader Samantha, asked for a Mountain Dew. A 19-year old boy got it for her. At one point, she told her friend the soda tasted "gross," but she drank it. A few minutes later she vomited and passed out. She was moved onto the bathroom floor, beside another 14-year-old girl, Melanie, who also passed out after having a drink. Once the boys became concerned that they could not wake the girls, they took them to the hospital. Both girls fell into comas. Melanie recovered, but Samantha never regained consciousness and died in the hospital. In February 2000 the four males involved (ages 18, 19, and 26) went on for the death of Samantha and the poisoning of the other girls, one of whom ingested some GHB but had no symptoms. This was the first of a GHB-related death. The younger males were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and lesser charges of poisoning. The 26-year-old was convicted of being an accessory to manslaughter, poisoning, and possession of marijuana and GHB. The jail time for the manslaughter convictions is up to 15 years; the jail time for the poisoning convictions can be up to 5 years. Amphetamines Amphetamines are drugs such as dextroamphetamine, benzedrine, and Ritalin. Amphetamines were originally developed to treat asthma, sleep disorders (narcolepsy) and hyperactivity. In 1920, a drug called "ephedrine" was used to treat asthma. In , the ma huang plant (Ephedra vulgaris) had been used for centuries to treat people with asthma. It is no wonder that the plant worked...the ma huang plant contains ephedrine. In 1932, synthetic ephedrine was sold "over-the-counter" and was available without a
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