GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid), also known as sodium oxybate in its FDA-approved form (Xyrem® for narcolepsy treatment), is a central nervous system depressant. Street names include Easy Lay, G, Georgia Home Boy, Goop, Grievous Bodily Harm, Liquid Ecstasy, Liquid X, and Scoop. It typically appears as a clear, colorless, slightly salty liquid or white powder dissolved in drinks. Analogs like GBL (gamma-butyrolactone) and 1,4-BD (1,4-butanediol) convert to GHB in the body and are sometimes sold illicitly under product labels like “fish tank cleaner.”

GHB is a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law due to high abuse potential and no accepted medical use outside approved formulations (which are Schedule III). GBL is a List I chemical.

Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic used medically in humans and animals, is another substance associated with these risks. Street names include Special K, Kit Kat, Cat Valium, and Vitamin K. It comes as a clear liquid or white/off-white powder and can produce hallucinations, disconnection from reality (“K-hole”), and amnesia. It is a Schedule III substance with accepted medical uses but high potential for psychological dependence.

These drugs gained attention in the 1990s at raves and clubs. They are misused for euphoric, calming, or sedative effects. Importantly, their ability to cause amnesia, suggestibility, and passivity has made them notorious in non-consensual situations. Routine toxicology screens may miss some analogs.

Effects on the Mind and Body

GHB occurs naturally in small amounts in the central nervous system. Illicit use produces:

• Euphoria, drowsiness, decreased anxiety, confusion, and memory impairment.
• Possible visual hallucinations or, paradoxically, excited/aggressive behavior.
• Strongly amplified depressant effects when combined with alcohol or other depressants.

Effects typically begin in 15–30 minutes and last 3–6 hours. Low doses may cause nausea; higher doses risk unconsciousness, seizures, slowed heart rate and breathing, lowered body temperature, vomiting, coma, and death. There is no specific antidote. Regular use can lead to addiction and withdrawal symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, tremors, elevated heart rate/blood pressure, and occasional psychotic thoughts. Analogs may cause additional issues like skin/eye irritation, incontinence, liver or kidney damage.

Ketamine distorts perceptions of sight and sound, creates a sense of detachment, and can cause hallucinations lasting 30–60 minutes. Physical effects may include increased heart rate and blood pressure (initially), rapid eye movements, dilated pupils, muscle stiffening, nausea, unresponsiveness, and—in overdose—unconsciousness with dangerously slowed breathing. It has also been linked to amnesia and cognitive difficulties.

Critical note on pupils and signs: Among these substances, ketamine is more consistently associated with pupil dilation. GHB more often causes constriction (especially at higher doses), though responses can vary. These are not definitive diagnostics on their own.

How These Drugs Impair Driving and Lead to DUI Arrests

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data and case reports show GHB and related substances create moderate to severe driving impairment. Drivers under the influence have been stopped for weaving, ignoring signs, near-collisions, and other erratic behavior. Observed signs include:

• Confusion, disorientation, incoherent or slurred speech.
• Short-term memory loss, dizziness, drowsiness, agitation.
• Lack of balance, unsteady gait, poor coordination.
• Poor performance on field sobriety tests.
• Vomiting, sweating, somnolence, or transient unconsciousness.
• Horizontal (and sometimes vertical) gaze nystagmus; slow reaction to light; generally lowered body temperature.

Blood concentrations in impaired drivers have ranged widely (e.g., 26–360 mg/L or higher in reported cases). Effects can include loss of peripheral vision and suppressed gag reflex. Simulator studies confirm increased collisions, off-road incidents, weaving, and lane deviations even at therapeutic-range doses shortly after ingestion, with recovery over several hours as levels drop.

In Georgia, DUI is not limited to alcohol. You can be charged if under the influence of any drug (legal or illegal) to the extent it is less safe to drive, or if a controlled substance is present in your system under certain prongs of the statute. There is no per se numeric limit like 0.08 BAC for most drugs—prosecutors rely on officer observations, field sobriety tests, driving behavior, and chemical tests of blood, urine, or other substances. Implied consent rules apply. Combining these drugs with alcohol heightens risk dramatically.

Cobb County law enforcement (and Georgia State Patrol) actively investigate drug-impaired driving. Arrests can occur at traffic stops, after crashes, or near nightlife areas. Victims of surreptitious dosing who then drive (or are found in control of a vehicle) may also face charges, creating complex legal and factual issues.

Sudden Loss of Consciousness, Sleep Onset, and “Sleep Driving”

GHB is particularly notorious for inducing rapid, profound sedation that can progress to sudden unconsciousness or a deep, sleep-like state. Effects can onset within 15–30 minutes, and high doses or combinations with alcohol frequently produce unarousable unconsciousness, somnolence, or transient blackouts lasting hours. NHTSA reports and forensic case series document drivers found unresponsive, sleeping at the wheel, or exhibiting extreme sleepiness with reduced consciousness—sometimes after erratic driving that ends with the vehicle stopped mid-road or in a collision.

This sudden sleep onset has been observed both in recreational misuse and, more rarely, in patients taking prescribed sodium oxybate (Xyrem®) for narcolepsy, where “sleep-driving” episodes have been noted in medical literature. Ketamine can similarly render users unresponsive to stimuli. In these states, a person may begin driving while still somewhat functional and then lose consciousness behind the wheel, or the impairment may produce automatic, unconscious operation of the vehicle.

Such scenarios raise critical questions about whether the driver was truly in voluntary control. Media and forensic reports describe individuals who later have no memory of the driving period, consistent with the amnestic properties of these drugs.

Involuntary Intoxication as a Potential Defense Under Georgia Law

Under Georgia law, voluntary intoxication is generally not a defense to any criminal act, including DUI (O.C.G.A. § 16-3-4(c)). DUI is typically treated as a general-intent (malum prohibitum) offense: the State must prove the person intended to drive (or be in actual physical control of a moving vehicle) while under the influence to the extent it was less safe, but not that the person specifically intended to commit the crime of DUI.

However, involuntary intoxication is different. O.C.G.A. § 16-3-4(a)–(b) provides that a person shall not be found guilty of a crime if, at the time of the act, because of involuntary intoxication, the person lacked sufficient mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong in relation to the act. Involuntary intoxication includes consumption of a substance through excusable ignorance or through the coercion, fraud, artifice, or contrivance of another person—precisely the situation when a drink is covertly spiked.

Georgia appellate courts have recognized that this defense can apply in DUI cases under the right facts. In Colon v. State, 256 Ga. App. 505 (2002), the Court of Appeals reversed a conviction where the trial court incorrectly instructed the jury that involuntary intoxication is unavailable to excuse DUI. The defense is essentially a form of temporary insanity: if the covert dosing rendered the person incapable of distinguishing right from wrong (or, in extreme cases of unconsciousness, incapable of forming even the general intent to drive), it may negate criminal responsibility. Evidence of sudden unconsciousness, complete amnesia, and toxicology confirming the unexpected presence of GHB or ketamine can support this theory. Success depends on the specific evidence, timely testing (these substances clear rapidly), and skilled presentation; it is not automatic.