News Release

'All About GHB' scientific meeting to focus on research about date rape drug

Meeting Announcement

NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse

WHAT: All About GHB -- A scientific meeting convened by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

WHEN: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 8 a.m. -- 5 p.m.

WHERE: Doubletree Hotel (Plaza II Room), 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD

Over the past 10 years, the abuse of GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) has increased dramatically in the United States. The drug, which has sedative effects, has been associated with sexual assaults in cities across the country. The goal of the meeting is to facilitate scientific dialogue about GHB abuse, pharmacology and toxicology; the roles of endogenous GHB in the normal brain and in neurological disorders, and the therapeutic potential of GHB. Media are invited to attend. For more information, call the NIDA Press Office, 301-443-6245. A meeting agenda follows.

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"All About GHB" Convened by the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Neuroscience Consortium

Doubletree Hotel (Plaza II Room), 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 27 June 2000 (Tuesday) 8:00 am -- 5:00 pm

8:00 am Complimentary continental breakfast

Introductions

8:30 am Alan I. Leshner, PhD, Director, NIDA
Timothy P. Condon, PhD, Associate Director, NIDA
Stephen R. Zukin, MD, Associate Director, Div of Treatment Research & Development, NIDA

Session 1 -- GHB abuse: Trends, trafficking, and clinical outcomes

9:00 am James Hall, BA (Up Front Drug Information Center, Miami)
Liquid X via the Internet: Surveillance and Observed Trends in Abuse of GHB-Related Drugs

9:45 am Special Agent Robert P. Mecir (Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, San Jose Regional Office, California Dept of Justice)
GHB -- Manufacturing, Distribution, Use, and the Law

10:30 am Brief intermission

10:45 am Karen Miotto, MD (UCLA Dept of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences)
Clinical Management of GHB Tolerance, Dependence, and Withdrawal

Session 2 -- GHB biochemistry, pharmacology, pathophysiology, and therapeutic potential

11:30 am Michel Maitre, MD, PhD (Biochemistry Institute, Strasbourg, France)
Physiological versus Pharmacological Mode of Action of GHB

12:15 pm Lunch (on your own)

1:15 pm O. Carter Snead III, MD (Neurology Div, Dept of Pediatrics, U of Toronto)
Are the Psychotropic Effects of GHB Mediated by a GHB-Specific or a GABA-B Receptor?

2:00 pm Prof. Gian Luigi Gessa (Dept of Neuroscience "B.B.Brodie," U of Cagliari, Italy)
The Mechanism of GHB Action in the Treatment of Alcoholism
and
Dr. Giancarlo Colombo (Neuroscienze s.c.a.r.l., Cagliari, Italy)
The Mechanism of Positive Reinforcing Effect of GHB

3:00 pm Intermission

3:30 pm K. Michael Gibson, PhD, FACMG (Molecular & Medical Genetics & Pediatrics, Oregon Health Sciences U, Portland)
Development, Preliminary Characterization, and Pharmacologic Rescue of a Murine Knockout Model of 4-Hydroxybutyric Aciduria

Session 3 -- Panel/audience discussion: All about GHB

4:15 pm Elaine E. Kaufman, PhD (Lab of Cerebral Metabolism, NIMH, NIH)
Dr. Kaufman will lead the panel

5:00 pm Adjourn

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports more than 85 percent of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to ensure the rapid dissemination of research information and its implementation in policy and practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and other topics can be ordered free of charge in English and Spanish through NIDA Infofax at 888-NIH-NIDA (644-6432) or 888-TTY-NIDA (889-6432) for the deaf. These fact sheets and further information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at http://www.drugabuse.gov.


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