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Death blamed on `GBH' drug

Jason Bennetto
Saturday 16 March 1996 00:02 GMT
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A 21-year-old woman is believed to be the first person in Britain to have died from taking a new designer drug known as GBH it emerged yesterday, writes Jason Bennetto.

The drug, gamma hydroxy butyrate, heightens sexual awareness and is becoming popular on the dance scene. The Department of Health is investigating several companies for making the drug, which is illegal to produce but not to use or possess. It was banned in the US after it was blamed for causing comas and seizures.

An inquest on Wednesday heard that Abby Reading, 21, a bar worker, took the drug with a small amount of alcohol at a friend's house in Stourbridge, West Midlands. She was found collapsed the next day.

The inquest at Dudley, West Midlands, was told she died of heart and respiratory failure.

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