Why won’t AI give safer use tips for GHB?
As a licensed substance use counselor with a special focus on serving the gay and Queer community, I hear a lot about GHB and meth–especially from the gay men I work with who are interested in changing their use. I probably don’t have to tell you that GHB and meth are popular party drugs–oftentimes used before and during sex to facilitate those encounters.
And although there’s a lot of info on both meth and GHB online, quite a lot of that is content related to the negative effects of both.
To illustrate the level of negativity widely associated with these drugs, I recently asked an AI tool how to use GHB more safely. Here’s the response I got:
Providing information on how to use GHB would be unsafe. GHB is a dangerous substance and its use can have severe health consequences.
Interesting. This AI tool, at least, has apparently been programmed in a way that prevents it from sharing any safer use information.
It is fair to say that meth can cause significant harms such as psychosis, aggressiveness, and the depletion of dopamine. And GHB, if used incorrectly, can be life-threatening. But both drugs are used by many, many people–and can also be a source of euphoria and a way to release shame-based sexual inhibitions.
My goal is to share information about GHB (with an emphasis on the GHB-meth connection) so that people who use (or who want to use) can make safer decisions for themselves. Everything I share will be shared neutrally, in a way that destigmatizes the choices we make about drugs and sex.
First–what is GHB?
Gamma Hyrdroxybutyrate (GHB) is a central nervous system depressant (a “downer”).
GHB works on GABA receptors, much like alcohol, which help to relax us and reduce anxiety (at least in the short term).
Recent research has pointed to a more complex pharmacodynamic relationship, but generally GHB relaxes us and releases our inhibitions.
What drugs are related to GHB?
“Analogues,” “precursors,” or “prodrugs” are different versions of a drug–for GHB, those include GBL, BDO, and the lesser-known GVL and GHV. These all can act similarly to GHB.
GBL and BDO (also known as BD or 1,4 BD) are often sold as G.
GBL is significantly more potent than GHB, but also has a shorter half-life, which means that its effects wear off more quickly. GBL tends to have quicker onset than GHB, while BDO is slower and less potent. BDO is often diverted from cleaning products, and is generally not as readily available as GHB or GBL. It is important to know which of these products you are consuming, and to adjust for the higher potency if it is GBL.
How do you take GHB, and how does it feel?
You’ll see people keeping G and its analogues as a liquid in plastic bottles. People oftentimes take GHB by using the bottle cap to measure a dose.
This is obviously a very inexact way to measure a highly dose-dependent drug (we’ll talk about this more down below). It is generally believed that doses above 2 milliliters increase the risk of overdose substantially.
GHB takes about 15-30 minutes to really kick in, at which point the effects tend to include relaxation, reduction of inhibitions, and mild euphoria. It enhances one’s sense of touch and has been linked to increased erectile function and enhanced orgasm. It has a very short half-life of an hour or less, which means it leaves your system quickly. (Compare this with meth, which has a half-life of roughly 10 hours.)
Why the meth connection?
Many gay men, and other people, enjoy the rush of dopamine from meth which increases sexual desire and vastly increases the duration and intensity of sex.
It can also overamp them, leading to anxiety, sleeplessness, or even paranoia, and GHB tends to reduce that anxiety, while also enhancing sex in its own way.
How do I dose correctly?
A good rule of thumb for a beginner is to stay at or below 2 mL. To be safest, 1 mL is even better if you’re using for the first time.
People who use G more frequently typically build tolerance. This does not necessarily mean they can use higher doses safely, but it does mean that they will not feel the effects at lower doses. The dilemma of dosing, especially for frequent users, is that you want to take one dose only, meaning you want to take enough to get the effects.
At the same time, it is important to take only as much as you need to get the effects due to overdose risk. The classic “start low, go slow” harm reduction maxim for dosage does not fit very well with G because it is unsafe to take numerous small doses in close proximity of one another. Stick with the dose you take, and if it does not produce the effects you want, wait it out until it has cleared your system.
Many people who take GHB have measuring devices to be precise about dosage. Others fill up the cap of the plastic bottle which is holding the GHB. Whatever you do, DO NOT take a swig of GHB straight from the bottle.
If you keep GHB in your refrigerator, one tip is to drop a small amount of food coloring in the bottle to avoid confusing it with water. Also, keep it out of reach of people who do not know it is GHB.
Can I mix GHB with other drugs?
It’s not a good idea to mix GHB with other downers, like alcohol, benzos, and opioids. Even a small dose of GHB with these can lead to blackout and fatal overdose.
One thing to know if you choose to use GHB with meth is that using a stimulant and a depressant at the same time does not “balance out” the dangerous effects of each drug. On the contrary, using the different classes of drugs together tends to stress the body more than using either alone. Though meth and GHB are rarely a fatal combination, it is important to recognize that each drug has risks, and together those risks increase.
Can I get addicted to GHB?
Many people develop substance use disorders from ongoing use of GHB. Trying to stop using G after a long period of heavy daily use typically causes quite severe withdrawal symptoms. If you are a heavy daily user of GHB and you want to stop using it, the safest bet is to seek assistance and monitoring from a physician or at a licensed medical detox center.
If you are struggling with your GHB use and want help, it is crucial to find professionals who actually know the facts about this drug. Many in the treatment world are not well-versed on GHB, especially those in less urban and less gay-friendly communities.
How dangerous is GHB?
We’ll focus on people who intentionally take GHB recreationally (and not when used as a “date rape drug,” which is outside the scope of this article, yet still a concern). It is possible to overdose on GHB and thus end up in the emergency room, or worse. That’s why dosing GHB is important–you don’t want to take too much.
We are fairly certain that it’s rare for people to die from GHB overdose, although no reliable statistics are available in the U.S. on fatal GHB overdose. If you look at fatal overdose deaths in San Francisco, for example, we know there were over 600 deaths in 2025, as reported by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. GHB is not included as a drug that’s called out as implicated in any of these deaths, while fentanyl, meth, and cocaine were detected in hundreds of these cases.
GHB can cause significant respiratory depression, which often leads to losing consciousness or falling asleep.
People often refer to these situations as being “G-ed Out,” which is a dangerously vague description. It is very difficult to tell the difference between normal sleepiness and dangerous loss of consciousness, but one clear sign of a more severe situation is that a person falls from a standing position, rather than just lying down in bed.
Either scenario can be very dangerous though, and should be monitored closely. When a person is unresponsive, it should be taken seriously, and emergency services should be called immediately. While waiting, GHB overdose victims should be placed on their sides to prevent choking.
Other possible dangers associated with being “G-ed out” include injuries caused by falls and mistreatment of various sorts by people seeking to take advantage of the drug’s effects. This is why it is important to use G only with trusted friends. Further, it is crucial to know the dosage and to control dosage yourself rather than rely on someone else to decide on your dose.
My final thoughts
When used safely, GHB can bring pleasure and enhance your experiences. But it is a drug with very specific and unique harm reduction practices. It is one of the most dangerous drugs to mix with other CNS depressants, and it is one of the most dose-dependent drugs, meaning that the difference between enhancing your experience and losing consciousness is much smaller than with other drugs like alcohol.
Many in the gay community love the combination of meth and GHB, and it is important to understand that G does not reduce the effects of meth, or vice versa. Taking G to calm down from meth-driven agitation can set up a dangerous cycle in which G is taken in excessive doses or too frequently. Other strategies to calm down from meth overamping are safer and more effective.
