DDB updates dangerous drugs list with plants, date-rape substance

The Dangerous Drugs Board has decided to include plants which contain or are sources of illegal substances in its list of dangerous drugs.

The said illegal substances include those listed in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Single Convention on Psychotropic Substances and those on the board's own list of dangerous drugs.

The DDB also classified gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) as a dangerous drug.

It said drug had been reported to have been used as a “date rape drug." GBL is believed to cause sleepiness, confusion, and dizziness,  supposedly making victims vulnerable to sexual assault.

The decision was reached during the board meeting on June 27.

According to the DDB, GBL is usually mixed with alcoholic drinks and is used during parties where intake of illegal drugs such as methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (ecstasy) is prevalent.

Laboratories of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine National Police as well as the National Bureau of Investigation are authorized to examine the presence of drugs in plants to be classified as dangerous drugs. —NB, GMA News