Fri 26 May 2006 The substance is used by predators to drug victims because it has no taste and no colour. Picture: Colin Hattersley
UK's biggest date rape drug haul
UK's biggest haul of date rape drug GHB made in West Lothian
Two arrested in Livingston and charged with exporting the class C drug
GHB odourless and colourless, and is used for date rape and robbery
Key quote
"I am very relieved this has been recovered as in the wrong hands it is very dangerous. Not only is it used to spike the drinks of people to rape them but it's also used to assault and rob people. This is not an urban myth, we get 800 to 900 new victims calling us every year." - SPOKESMAN, SUPPORT GROUP
Story in full DRUG campaigners and women's groups have expressed alarm after the UK's biggest haul of the date rape drug GHB was made by Scottish police.
It is understood a metric tonne of gamma-butyro lactone, which becomes GHB when ingested, was discovered after raids on a house and business premises in West Lothian.
The drug is commonly used for recreational purposes by people involved in the club scene, but is also known to be used by sexual predators as a rape drug. It has been described as the sexual predator's drug of choice because it has no taste and no colour.
The discovery of such a large quantity of the substance, which is produced and consumed in liquid or powder form, has prompted significant concern from women's groups and campaigners.
Jane Cumming, the director of trauma support group Crisis, said they were now receiving about four calls a week from women who believed they had been victims of date rape.
"It used to be we would get maybe one case a week. It's becoming more and more of a problem. The drug may be produced for recreational purposes but there are also other, more sinister purposes.
"The potential for that amount of the drugs out on the streets simply doesn't bear thinking about."
Tom Wood, the chairman of the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action, warned: "It is very concerning to find such a haul because it shows the quantity of drugs in circulation."
Police said they believed the drug had been produced for distribution in Scotland and for export.
Graeme Pearson, director of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), said: "It is the most significant discovery of the drug in the UK."
He said GHB, also known as liquid ecstasy, was a "dangerous substance in its own right".
"However, it has a history of being reported to be used for the purposes of rape, which is clearly a more sinister element to its use. The agency is pleased it has been able to intervene at a very early stage and report the circumstances to the procurator-fiscal."
The Roofie Foundation, which runs a helpline for victims of drug rape, said it was "gobsmacked" by the amount of GHB that had been seized.
Graham Rhodes, a spokesman, said: "It must have been a vat of the stuff. This stuff sells in bottles at around £10 a time.
"I am very relieved this has been recovered as in the wrong hands it is very dangerous. Not only is it used to spike the drinks of people to rape them but it's also used to assault and rob people. This is not an urban myth, we get 800 to 900 new victims calling us every year."
Two people were arrested on Wednesday following an operation led by investigators from the SCDEA in Livingston.
Denise Caron Macpherson, 45, and Hanan Rabin, 53, yesterday appeared in court charged with exporting the GHB derivative to the United States between 19 April and 24 May this year.
They were also accused of supplying the substance from Macpherson's home in the Craigshill area of Livingston between the same dates.
A Hebrew interpreter will have to be found to continue the case against Rabin, from Edinburgh, today, a Crown Office spokesman said.
Macpherson, who was also charged with possession of cannabis, made no plea or declaration and was bailed.
The Home Office made GHB illegal in 2003, reclassifying the drug to class C status.
Odourless substance can be disabling when taken with alcohol
GHB is a colourless, odourless, salty-tasting liquid usually sold in small bottles or in powder form as capsules.
Developed in the early 1960s as an anaesthetic, it became popular in dance and rave culture, raising concerns over its use as a "date rape" drug applied to both women and men.
Usually used recreationally as a depressant with effects similar to alcohol, a small dose accentuates the user's mood, making them happy, relaxed and uninhibited or more depressed. It takes about ten minutes to an hour to take effect and lasts up to a day.
GHB (its full name is gamma-hydroxybutyrate) is also known as liquid ecstasy, liquid X and GBL. It can be used by body builders as an alternative to anabolic steroids, and is used as a slimming or sleeping aid.
Taken in strong doses or with alcohol, it can be physically disabling. Large doses can cause numbness, disorientation, seizures and collapse. After use there is a lack of energy for hours, or even days. It is similar to gamma amino butyric acid, which occurs naturally in the brain.
GHB is a Class C drug. It is illegal to possess, supply or produce it and the maximum penalty for offenders is two years' imprisonment.
Related topics
Scottish police have arrested a man and a woman after finding Britain's largest ever stash of Gamma-butyrolactone. The man in charge of the operation, Graeme Pearson, director of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, called the find "the most significant discovery of the drug in the UK." 

The drug GHB in powder form

Denise Caron MacPherson, 45, and Hanan Rabin, 53, have been charged with exporting the drug, also known as GHB, to the United States between 19 April and 24 May. The news of the Scottish factory comes as a US study found drug use was involved in two-thirds of sex attacks, while 5 per cent were given an actual "date rape" drug.

Graham Rhodes for The Roofie Foundation, a helpline for victims of drug rape, said: "I am very relieved this has been recovered as in the wrong hands it is very dangerous. Not only is it used to spike the drinks of people to rape them but it's also used to assault and rob people."

Used by ravers, robbers and bodybuilders, the base chemical (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) was taken during a raid on a house and business in West Lothian. The haul would have been put on the United States illicit drug market and sold for fun and more sinister purposes.

In its non-powder form GHB is barely detectable: clear and having no smell it can be particularly potent with a few drops mixed into an alcoholic drink. Once a sufficient amount of the salty liquid has been ingested the victim can be knocked out within an hour.

While GHB is known both as  "liquid ecstasy" and the date rapist's "Plan A", the versatile compound is also used by body builders instead of anabolic steroids, by dieters and as a sleeping aid.

In Britain, GHB is a "Class C" drug which means making it, holding it and selling it is punishable with up to two years in prison. The effects of rape, for which the drug is reportedly used, can last a lifetime. Jane Cumming, from support group Crisis, said she received an average of 4 calls a week from people claiming to be victims of date rape.

The pair, who were caught in Livingston, were accused of distributing the drug in Scotland from MacPherson's house around the same time as they were exporting to the United States, while MacPherson was also charged with Cannabis possession.