Med student and aspiring surgeon Hester Stewart was found dead in Brighton, England on Sunday after a party following an awards ceremony with her cheerleading squad. She died from a drug the kids are taking which has not yet been made illegal.
Hester's body was near a vial of the colorless, odorless liquid GBL (gamma-butyrolactone), which mixes with stomach acids to form GHB, aka the date rape drug, and it's available on the Internet legally. This is thought to be the third GBL-related death in the past year.
The kicker is that the UK's Home Office announced it would make the substance illegal a full eight months ago, declaring it "can lead to dependence, unconsciousness and even death by
intoxication."
A spokesman explained why GBL is still available. "We are currently looking at the legislative options for
control, to target the problems of misuse of GBL, which has a number of
legitimate uses."
Of course even if the drug were illegal, that doesn't mean that someone who either chose to take the date rape drug or was slipped the date rape drug wouldn't have done it anyway. As to who was the responsible party in the drug-giving or taking, one of Hester's fellow partygoers said she took the drug herself, though of course her mother denies she ever would have done such a thing. No one is being charged with slipping her a mickey.
Related:
GHB Just Got a Brand New Street Name...
