What You Should Know about Gamma Butyrolactone (GBL)

Also called ‘geeb’ in slang and ‘gamma butyrolactone,’ officially, GBL is a clear liquid solvent marketed and sold on the grey market as a GBL cleaner, rust remover or alloy cleaner. It comes in bottles of 125ml multiples, smells like an industrial solvent and melts through most plastics.

But people asked, “Is GBL a GHB?”  According to the World Health Organization report entitled, “Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) Critical Review Report,” GBL is chemically similar to gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and that it can be easily synthesized from GBL through changing the pH with an additional alkali such as sodium hydroxide, although synthetic conversion is unnecessary because GBL is converted to GHB after ingestion. (*In an Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, 36th meeting in Geneva on June 16-20, 2014)

Is GBL a drug? Based on the same WHO report, GBL has the capacity of producing a state of dependence and can mimic the same effects of GHB (Schedule II compound), but claimed that the magnitude of social problems and public health concerns that its use make is hard to estimate. (Page 7, paragraph 6 of “Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) Critical Review Report”)

Now, is GBL a stimulant?

Based on an excerpt of anecdotal report of an EROWID user calling himself ‘MRcs,’ who cooked GBL into GHB with a pipette by measuring out a dose of just slightly above 2ml and then storing it in gelatin capsules (using cooking instruction and recommended dosing).

He swallowed GBL and noticed its effects within 10 to 15 minutes, with the first effect of having a pleasant ‘floatiness’ within five minutes. He experienced no nausea and snuggled up in bed with his female trip sitter. After sleeping for 15 minutes, they began sex (something he has grown loving while under GHB/GBL because it gives him extended orgasms, mild fake openness and increased mental sensuality).

There is no hard and fast rule on GBL dosage though, but some users claimed 0.5ml would be enough, while others take three times of that amount for an effect. By intending to use GBL, users are advised to start small (0.3ml), but are warned not to drink it straight from the pipette; instead, they should mix it with juice in a shot glass.