A drink-spiking victim has accused Home Secretary Priti Patel of putting lives at risk after she quietly scrapped plans to reduce access to lethal date rape drugs. The UK Government was planning a crackdown on GHB and GBL last month – but dropped it the day before the rules were due to change.
Jess Insall, 20, from Stirling, believes she was spiked after being found in a toilet cubicle by a friend, having been unconscious for an hour. Although she suspects GHB was used, police tested her more than 34 hours after the incident, by which time the drug can’t be detected in the body.
The accountant has been researching and campaigning to raise awareness of the dangers of the drug and was disappointed by the Home Secretary’s latest move. She said: “We are seeing this drug being repeatedly used in crimes as serious as murder.
It’s clearly an issue that needs to be solved and Priti Patel said herself already that it has to be. Putting some regulation on GBL, the chemical which converts to GHB, is a really important step to do that.”
A series of high-profile rape and murder cases last year led to the drug being reclassified from Class C to Class B but shadowy retailers still freely flaunt it online. Reynhard Sinaga was jailed for at least 30 years in 2020 for raping more than 40 men using GBL and GHB to incapacitate them in Manchester.
And Stephen Port used a lethal amount of the drug to rape and murder four men in London. According to the Home Office, the department “significantly underestimated” the impact of the new regulations on businesses that rely on it for their products. It is used in cleaning and car coating products, printer inks and toners and batteries.
"Now the Home Office will consult businesses again and postpone plans to crack down on GHB. Jess said: “I understand that there are valid uses for it and businesses have to be able to get it for their products but that doesn’t mean it should be a free-for-all and people can order it from dodgy websites where they pretend to be selling it as a cleaning product. It’s dangerous.”
Jess was at The Golf Lounge in West George Street, Glasgow, at about 10pm on March 25 when she suddenly fell ill. An ambulance came but mixed advice from NHS staff and police led to the delay in her drugs test. Jess is yet to receive the results of the test.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We’ve revoked the 2021 regulation of GBL and 1,4-BD and intend to consult with industry on how we can deliver recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs without harming business. It remains an offence to import, export, produce, possess or supply these substances unlawfully.”
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