GBL ban threatens to overwhelm drug detox services in the NHS

Published on Saturday 29 August 2009 19:51

HEALTH services in Scotland will struggle to cope with addicts who want to stop using the chemical GBL after plans were unveiled to ban the substance, experts have predicted.

And doctors have warned of the "horrendous" withdrawal symptoms, including seizures and psychosis, experienced by those coming off GBL without medical assistance.

The warnings come after last week's Scotland on Sunday revealed the story of Chris Dyer, from Peebles, who died in March after long-term use of the substance. Home Secretary Alan Johnson has since announced plans to ban GBL, also known as liquid ecstasy, reclassifying it as a class C drug by the end of the year.

But that has raised concerns about whether drug treatment services will be able to cope with addicts who are no longer able to get hold of GBL.

Professor Neil McKeganey, from Glasgow University's Centre for Drug Misuse Research, said it was not known how widely GBL was used but added:

"Certainly our drug treatment services would not be able to cope with any substantial or significant increase in the numbers of people contacting them for help, because they are largely working at their upper limit anyway, and that would be a problem."

He said that, without medical assistance, addicts would struggle to free themselves from GBL. "But we don't have addiction services at the moment which are very well experienced in this area because most of the training of drug addiction workers is about addiction to heroin," he said.

"I think we need to understand more about the development of an addiction to this drug and also what has been the experience of those individuals who have tried to come off it. At the moment, there is very little expertise around."

Dr Malcolm Bruce, a consultant psychiatrist at NHS Lothian who helps to treat those addicted to GBL, said: "With-drawal symptoms can start very quickly. Within one to six hours after the last dose, people can experience anxiety, insomnia, tremor and episodes of tachycardia (an abnormally rapid heartbeat].

"If untreated, within 24 hours this can progress to confusion, delirium, psychosis and resultant agitation."

Detox in hospital, using medication to deal with the withdrawal symptoms, is commonly used. But waiting times for drugs services can be long.

John Arthur, of Edinburgh-based drugs awareness charity Crew 2000, said the health service would be "seriously stretched" if large numbers of people came forward for help with GBL. "The fact that a lot of these services didn't even understand the nature of this substance and the withdrawal effects is really concerning.

"I'm not sure that our colleagues in the health services are either geared up for it or know enough about it at this point in time," he said.

Dyer's mother, Suzanne, said the services that had tried to help her son had done all they could, but there was a lack of information on the ground about GBL.

"None of the services we dealt with initially had any experience of this particular substance," she said.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We will monitor the situation in Scotland as to any signs of the problematic misuse of GBL."