As the number of students who fall victim to the date-rape drug gamma hydroxybutyrate rises steadily on college campuses, government officials are making a conscious effort to reduce use of the drug. To aid in this effort, the Michigan Department of Community Health officially announced March as GHB Awareness Month yesterday in Detroit.

"This is something the Michigan Women"s Commission, the Police Commission, community health groups and the governor"s office have been working on for two years together," said Susan Shafer, Gov. John Engler"s spokeswoman.

"This is a way to get awareness out, to make sure no one"s harming others, and to just make women in particular safe. This is an issue that is constantly popping up in society and it needs to be addressed," she added.

Alicia Rinaldi, Education and Training Coordinator for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center said the governor made this decision in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness month, held in April.

"In general, the use of the drug is definitely a problem on college campuses, you always feel the prevalence of rape drugs like GHB, and it"s a reality here like it is across the country. It"s good to be recognized," Rinaldi said.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, the drug, a naturally occurring substance in the body, was developed in the 1960s as a dietary supplement.

But when mixed with alcohol the drug can have fatal side effects, most often causing massive blackouts with little or no recollection of events.

"You always need to keep your beverage with you at all times, especially on college campuses where the use of this drug for harmful purposes has been most prevalent," Shafer added.

GHB became a Schedule I Substance in the United States after former President Bill Clinton lobbied for a law to control the sale and use of this drug.

A Schedule I drug is defined as a drug that has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and is not accepted for use under medical supervision.

Occurrences of GHB use at the University in the past two years, including the overdose of three University students and an employee of the Nectarine last fall, were considered red flags to outsiders about the increasing frequency of the drugs use on campus.

"GHB is a troubling drug because it"s used against women in a lot of cases. It"s great that there is a GHB Awareness month now, more educational tactics need to be initiated to teach people about the hazards of this drug," said LSA senior Sabrina Charles.

While not all students on campus have had personal experiences with the drug, many know it is a problem.

"Everybody hears rumors about it. I know it exists and I"m sure it"s a big problem on campus in selected situations" she said.

"The Michigan Women"s Commission has been working on a localized effort because this is something that can affect everybody, both men and women, even in a friendly situation," Shafer added.