Politicians and medical experts joined the call for the substance to be made illegal after The Daily Telegraph disclosed the death of medical student Hester Stewart.
The Home Office has failed to ban GBL despite saying that it would be made illegal eight months ago after being advised to do so by the Government’s drugs advisors.
Dr Sean Cummings, who runs a private GP clinic in Harley Street London which specialises in drugs patients and has come across many cases of GBL poisonings, revealed that around six people a year have died from it since it emerged in the past few years.
Available at just 50p a dose, it is similar to the notorious banned “date-rape” drug GHB, and converts into that substance in the stomach, which can be lethal in tiny doses when mixed with alcohol.
“It is a very dangerous drug,” Dr Cummins said.
“On the clubbing scene I would say that GBL poisonings are a daily occurrence.
“There is also anecdotal evidence from a barman in one club in south London that said he had lost seven of his friends in one year.”
Because GBL also has a use as an industrial solvent – in the plastics industry and as a nail polish remover – officials have been delayed in framing legislation, despite it being banned for personal use in America, Canada and Sweden.
