Call to change date-rape drug law

GBL has become a popular drug on the gay nightclub scene

Calls for a change in the law have been renewed after charges were dropped against a couple accused of exporting millions of pounds of a date-rape drug.

The case against Hanan Rabin and Denise Macpherson was abandoned because the drug seized - GBL - is not illegal in the UK.

The pair were arrested two years ago after a police raid in Livingston.

The Crown Office said the case had been dropped after a "full and careful consideration of all the evidence".

Mr Rabin and Ms Macpherson had been charged with exporting GBL to the US, where it is illegal. However, the drug is legal in Britain.

Police found �4.4m of the drug at a home and nearby business in Livingston in May 2006.

We certainly can't have a major drug find like this not going forward towards having appropriate prosecutions in the courts Richard Baker Labour justice spokesman

Labour's justice spokesman Richard Baker told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "What we do know is that when this find of GBL was made, Graeme Pearson, who was then the director of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said it was the most significant discovery of the drug in the UK.

"Clearly you would hope for a case to be pursued after that because it was such a major find.

"The fact that the case appears to have been dropped is extremely concerning indeed, and that is why I will be asking Scottish ministers to be clear how that decision was reached, to see what happened here, and to have an investigation into that and tell us what action needs to be taken as a result.

"We certainly can't have a major drug find like this not going forward towards having appropriate prosecutions in the courts."

Gamma butyrolactone, or GBL, gives a similar effect to GHB, the date-rape drug also known as "liquid ecstasy" - which was made illegal in 2003.

'Perfectly legal'

Both are particularly popular in the gay club scene and produce a euphoric high, but taking too much can lead to nausea, unconsciousness and even death.

GBL is commonly found in household products and solvents such as nail varnish remover and paint stripper. It turns into GHB after it enters the blood stream.

The drug was found by police investigating the deaths of two men at a flat in Peterhead in October.

Graham Rhodes of the Roofie Foundation, which aims to raise awareness of drug-assisted rape and sexual assault, said a campaign to have GBL outlawed was already under way in England, with a Liberal Democrat MP recently asking a question about the issue in the House of Commons.

However, Mr Rhodes said the MP had not yet received any response from the UK Government.

Mr Rhodes said: "GHB is a chemical used very commonly in drug rape. GBL began to be used after GHB became illegal a couple of years ago, and funnily enough the first reports we ever had of it were issued by a solicitor in Scotland about two years ago.

"GBL is perfectly legal - it is used in lots of household chemicals and solvents, and personally I don't understand how anybody can be busted for something that isn't illegal.

"In England we have a campaign currently going where we have called for the banning of GBL."

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