“Safe Liquor Establishments Are Everybody’s Business. No Drugs Allowed. GHB Kills. We Call the Police. Anyone Found Taking Or Selling Drugs in this Establishment will be Permanently Barred.”
So reads a sign distributed to bar owners the week before the season’s biggest gay parties were set to begin. At a June 15 press conference at the 23rd District Police Station, at Halsted and Addison, bar owners learned about the sometimes-deadly effects of popular drugs including GHB and Ecstacy.
Besides overdoses at area gay and non-gay clubs, there have also been reports of drugs being used in rapes of men and women. A flyer reading “What Everyone Should Know About Rape Drugs” includes these warnings signs about symptoms: You feel drunk without consuming alcohol, or feel more drunk than usual for the amount you have consumed; you feel extremely hung-over, experiencing memory lapse; you remember taking a drink but nothing after that; you suspect someone had sex with you, but you can’t remember; you are experiencing breathing or motion difficulties. For help, call 1-888-293-2080 or report to a rape crisis center.
Because these drugs are metabolized quickly, every hour after an incident is critical for collecting evidence.
Another sign of drug use is sudsy water when you shake a water bottle, or people drinking out of eye droppers or other small-dose distributors. Just two-to-three drops of GHB can knock a person out.
Among those attending the press conference were owners from the gay clubs Circuit, Cell Block, Gentry, Manhole, Spin, Sidetrack, The Lucky Horseshoe, Closet, Berlin, Big Daddies and Charlies.
New 23rd District lesbigay liaisons were also introduced to the community: Jorge Lopez and Kathy Dore.