Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 11:48:08 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199910151548.LAA26039@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: CapuanoHR8@aol.com
Subject: Schedule I classification of GHB

Dear Representative Capuano

I'm disappointed to see that you recently voted to approve the classification
of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) as a Schedule I drug.  Schedule I is supposed to
contain only those drugs that have no clinical use, and it is not clear that
GHB falls into this category.  In particular, GHB has shown promise in
regularising the sleep patterns of narcolepsy patients.  The references cited
below are just two of the several studies that have documented this
therapeutic effect.

Unfortunately, biomedical research on the beneficial uses of GHB took a
downturn in the 1990's after GHB became known among young people as a
recreational drug.  This abandonment was a loss for all the patients who
might have benefited from proper use of GHB.  The way to curb abuse of a drug
is not to ban the substance itself, but to educate potential abusers of the
substance, and to provide safe alternatives to recreational drug use.  The
legislative attitude revealed by your vote to reclassify GHB is a significant
impediment to free medical enquiry, and a disappointment to me as a
neuroscientist.


References:

Scrima L, Hartman PG, Johnson FH Jr, Thomas EE, Hiller FC.  The effects of
gamma-hydroxybutyrate on the sleep of narcolepsy patients: a double-blind
study.  Sleep 13(6):479-490 (December 1990).

Lapierre O, Montplaisir J, Lamarre M, Bedard MA.  The effect of
gamma-hydroxybutyrate on nocturnal and diurnal sleep of normal subjects:
further considerations on REM sleep-triggering mechanisms.  Sleep 13(1):24-30
(February 1990).