GHB is the date rape drug, the one most often slipped into drinks before a sexual assault.

The label was fixed before there was data. At a House hearing in March 1999 Congress heard that “GHB is known to be responsible for as many as 19 deaths and innumerable rapes throughout this country.”[1] The DEA's witness gave a smaller count: “In regard to sexual assault cases, DEA is aware of at least 13 sexual assault cases involving 22 victims under the influence of GHB.”[1] The law passed the next year carries a date-rape title.[2]

The first large study came the same year. In urine from alleged drug-facilitated sexual assaults collected across the United States over 26 months, “451 were positive for ethanol, 218 for cannabinoids, 97 for benzoylecgonine, 97 for benzodiazepines, 51 for amphetamines, 48 for GHB”.[3] A 2010 systematic review: “GHB was detected in 0.2-4.4% of reported sexual assaults.” Its authors concluded: “Our results do not support the widespread labelling of GHB as a date rape drug as the prevalence of GHB is much lower than of other substances used in sexual assaults.”[4] A 2017 global review: “Nonetheless, alcohol is the most commonly detected substance and co-occurrence with other drugs is common. Aside from alcohol there was no other specific drug category associated with DFSA.”[5]

Studies of suspected spiking found less still. Of 101 Perth emergency patients who believed their drinks were spiked: “We did not identify a single case where a sedative drug was likely to have been illegally placed in a drink in a pub or nightclub.”[6]

The counts are a floor. GHB can be found in urine for only 8 to 10 hours,[7] and in one Australian series “The median delay from alleged incident to time of examination was 20 h.”[8] A 2025 trial concluded that “due to its rapid elimination and the challenge of distinguishing exogenous from endogenous levels, GHB is likely to be significantly underestimated in DFSA cases”.[9] Missed cases cannot move GHB past alcohol, though: the samples that were taken in time still put alcohol first by a factor of nine.[3]

The 1999 hearing's numbers set the tone for the coverage that followed. The Australian Institute of Criminology's national study in 2004 put it plainly: “Despite considerable media and public perceptions concerning the prevalence of drugs such as flunitrazepam, GHB and ketamine being used in drink spiking, the forensic evidence to date does not support these claims.”[10]