Last Saturday, on May 24, a well-known family from Patras lived a nightmare when their daughter was found in the Agia region with no memory whatsoever of the previous night.
The 22-year old girl had been at a party in central Patras, before she and her friends followed the crowd back to the house of a young man. No one can tell what happened afterwards, but early the next morning, she was found in Agia region, where her parents rushed immediately, only to discover she had a memory loss.
She was hospitalized after a few hours but her clinical examination showed no results, so doctors suggested blood tests to find out what happened. The first results indicated she had consumed a substance in her drink that reduces the ability to think and react. A so-called ‘date-rape’ drug was the most plausible explanation.
The chemical compound gamma-Butyrolactone, or GBL, cannot be identified in drinks, not even in a glass of clear water. It causes nausea, reduced reactions and temporary memory loss. The substance is legal and used to clean car components.
Its use is not subject to criminal proceedings. “Once it enters the human body, GBL is metabolized into another substance, which is illegal. Possession of GBL, however, is not liable to be tried,” said a member of the anti-drug squad.
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