A drug's deadly allure.

GHB continues to take its toll on gay men

It's almost become a rite of summer in New York: a high-profile death from the party drug GHB. Last year the drug killed 35-year-old Frank Giordano and signaled the end of the Gay Men's Heath Crisis's Morning Party. This year, on September 5, it brought the untimely death of Harry Bartel, co-owner of Splash, one of the city's largest and most popular gay clubs. And as was the case with Giordano's death, Bartel's passing has reignited concern and renewed questions about this unpredictable and frighteningly attractive drug.

Gamma hydroxy butyrate, originally developed as a surgical anesthetic and usually sold as a colorless and odorless liquid, provides users with a relaxed, uninhibited feeling. But unlike other popular party drugs, such as ecstasy and crystal meth, overdosing is all too easy with GHB, especially in combination with alcohol. And because one batch of GHB--the recipe for which can be found on the Internet--can differ greatly from the next, a dose that gives a mild buzz one day can kill the next.

"It's just a bad drug," said one veteran partyer who almost died of an overdose last year. Indeed, while nobody really keeps count, the government estimates at least 32 people have died and 3,500 others have needed treatment for overdoses since 1990. The weekend prior to Barters death, four men at two San Francisco gay bars had to be rushed to hospitals after overdosing on GHB.

"We're very proactive in warning people of the dangers of drugs like GHB," David Peterson, a San Francisco event promoter, told the city's Bay Area Reporter after two ODs at his "Fag Friday" party. "We've posted warning signs about GHB. People have got to be aware that they need to be more responsible." But messages like Peterson's seem to be falling on deaf ears. Even the messenger ignores the warning. Just a week before Bartel's death, his own bar ran an ad in the New York circuit party magazine HX discouraging the overuse of drugs.

"Those messages will be effective with some gay men," said Bob Bergeron, director of HIV prevention at New York's GMHC. "But they won't work for everyone. They didn't help Harry."