Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSFirst UK death due to GBL revealed
A London man has become the first person in the UK to die solely from GBL use, it has been confirmed.
The report of the death was revealed as the Government announced moves to outlaw the drug.
GBL is now banned under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and possession of it may carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
Doctors revealed the death of the 25-year-old in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
They said he was found unconscious in bed by his partner, following a night out clubbing. Attempts to revive him on the way to hospital failed and the man died following a prolonged cardiac arrest.
A post-mortem examination found evidence of GBL but no other substances including alcohol.
Writing in the journal, Dr Paul Dargan, from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust confirmed: “We report here the first UK case of a fatality related to confirmed, isolated GBL toxicity.”
The drug came to prominence in April after a 21-year-old Brighton medical student Hester Stewart died after taking it with a combination of alcohol.
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