GHB Poisonings May Lead to Prosecutions

DETROIT--Jury selection will begin Jan. 10 in the trial of three boys who were charged with manslaughter and poisoning of a teenaged girl with GHB. The girl unintentionally consumed GHB in a soft drink at a party. Joshua Cole, 18, of Southgate; Daniel Brayman, 18, of Trenton; and Nicholas Holtschlag, 17, of Wayne County's Brownstown Township, have been charged with manslaughter and poisoning charges and will stand trial in early 2000.

Charges allege that the girl and another friend were given drinks laced with GBL, the precursor to GHB, at a party the night they died. Both girls were unaware of the drug's presence.

According to experts, the dose of GHB it takes to kill a person is only slightly higher than the dose needed to get a high. "The risk of dying is so volatile and unpredictable," said Trinka Porrata, a GHB authority and retired Los Angeles Police Department detective. "It is the most dangerous drug I have dealt with in 25 years." Since the girl's death, more than 10 other deaths have been directly linked to GHB, and another 40 are being investigated.