Two decades after a rash of overdoses led to a ban on the party drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, a new generation of recreational users has rediscovered the drug, NBC News reports. An illicit network of dealers aided by social media and online marketplaces is revealed in recent indictments in a Texas federal court.
In the 1980s, health food stores marketed the compound as a dietary supplement. Then, in the ’90s, the drug found its way into American nightclubs, where just a few drops of the clear liquid can make the difference between experiencing euphoria or unconsciousness. Thousands of cases turned up in emergency rooms. Congress designated it a controlled substance in 2000, and reports of GHB exposure to poison control centers promptly fell. The law also targeted GHB analogues, including 1,4-butanediol (BDO), a substance targeted in a raid last month by federal agents of a wholesaler accused of $4.5 million in sales nationwide over the internet since 2015. Companies purportedly based in Europe, China and India market the compound on English-language websites. Stateside, companies have also found success by selling BDO on Amazon, the world’s largest online marketplace. As of last week, two third-party sellers offered consumer-sized quantities of BDO on Amazon (Amazon removed these products after NBC News reached out to the company for comment).