AROUND HIGHER EDUCATION: Date rape drugs hit college campuses

The Associated Press Congressional hearings on date rape drugs Rohypnol and GHB will begin today, but local colleges are already warning students about the dangers. ''It is important for other members of the community to know the drug is available and being used in State College and that its ingestion can result in death,'' Police Lt. Diane Conrad said in a statement. The House subcommittee on crime will have hearings today to examine whether Rohypnol and GHB should be added to the list of federally controlled substances, said Terry Tarham, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration's office of public affairs. Both drugs have been called date-rape drugs following reports of the drugs being slipped into drinks to facilitate rape. Eleven states have passed laws imposing stiff penalties for possessing or distributing the drug; Pennsylvania is not one of them. GHB, short for gamma hydroxybutyric acid, is legal in Europe but was outlawed by the Federal Drug Administration in 1990 after several GHB-related illnesses were reported, according to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. The drug can cause vomiting, dizziness, tremors and seizures and often involves hospitalization. The two 20-year-old Penn State students ingested GHB intentionally to get high, police said. And on Memorial Day, a 16-year-old Boalsburg girl was also admitted to a hospital after ingesting the drug. Penn State students are warned about the potential danger of date-rape drugs at orientation programs, said Peggy Spear, director of university health services. ''We try to share accurate information with the students about the substances,'' Spear said. She said she did not know what impact Sunday's hospitalizations would have on the program. Recent media attention has prompted Widener University to include information about GHB in their orientation for resident assistants, said spokesperson Linda Freeman. But at Temple University, reports on the dangers of GHB come as no surprise, officials said. ''GHB has been around a lot longer than these headlines,'' said Lori Vargo, assistant coordinator of Temple's drug and alcohol education program. She said that Temple has no current plans to specifically address GHB, and if they did it would be in the form of ''a few sentences added'' to existing literature on the more widely known Rohypnol. At the University of Pittsburgh, GHB and Rohypnol are mentioned but not given special emphasis in the drug and alcohol awareness programs, said spokesperson Ron Cichowicz. ''We tell them if you're at a party, get your own drinks,'' Cichowicz said.

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