Does it Matter that GHB is not FDA Approved as a Drug?
Although the FDA has yet to approve GHB for any medical use (IND applications are pending), this does not indicate that GHB lacks medical value or will not enhance public health. Every substance which is now FDA approved was once not approved, yet the its medical value was the same before as after. The difference between pre-approval and post-approval is in the knowledge in our minds, not in the substance. There is a strong provincial attitude in the United States to discount the uses that other countries and cultures put to a substance. This is not rational or scientifically valid, but it is a common prejudice. US authorities pander to this prejudice when they declare that, “There are no legitimate uses for GHB” [Keith Kamita, Narcotics Enforcement Administrator, as quoted in West Hawaii Today, February 11, 1997]. This is absurd. Similar statements have been made before the California Legislature [the Assembly Committee on Public Safety]. The situation is much worse than provincialism
