‘I was trapped inside my own body’: The £10 date rape drug GHB is colourless, odourless… and virtually undetectable. Now we reveal how it’s surging in popularity despite risk of blackouts, sexual assaults, and even death
The article follows Kim, 21, who says she began taking GHB after her boyfriend introduced it as a cheap way to enjoy nights out. After a few months of regular use, she believes she overdosed after combining it with alcohol and losing track of her dose; she later woke outside a club injured and without her underwear or belongings. She believes she had been raped, did not report the assault to police, and says she continues to experience trauma.
GHB is described as a potent sedative that can create euphoria and confidence but can also cause blackouts and loss of movement, with overdose potentially fatal. The article says the colourless, odourless liquid is difficult to detect and may cost £1–£3 per millilitre; Kim says she spent about £10 for a night out compared with around £50 on alcohol. Her account highlights the danger of taking an uncertain dose, especially when mixed with alcohol, and the risk that incapacitation can leave someone vulnerable to assault.
- Kim says GHB use preceded an overdose and sexual assault.
- The drug is cheap, hard to detect and risky with alcohol.
- She reports ongoing trauma and says she and her boyfriend have stopped using it.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
GHB represents a genuine and escalating public health crisis that demands serious attention. Its properties—cheap, potent, colourless, and undetectable—make it uniquely dangerous, particularly as it enters mainstream recreational use, and when combined with alcohol or taken in uncertain doses, it creates profound blackout states where users lose all bodily control and memory, leaving them dangerously vulnerable to sexual assault and overdose. Raising awareness of these serious risks, as this story does through Kim's account, serves an important protective function and is appropriate journalism.
The case against
Whilst individual tragedies are real, this narrative risks promoting counterproductive moral panic and misplaced faith in prohibition rather than evidence-based approaches. Drug prohibition has repeatedly failed to reduce supply and typically drives use underground, whereas harm reduction strategies—testing services, accurate information, and peer support—have demonstrated genuine effectiveness in keeping people safer. The underlying problems are sexual violence and inadequate victim support systems; focusing on fear-based reporting about a particular drug can distract from these structural issues and misrepresent what actually prevents harm.