Designer drugs new love potion for the hip couple

By: Adrian Humphreys

For special, romantic evenings, Peter and Maxine don't turn to fine wine
and soft music.

They drop a drug called GHB. And the Ancaster couple say their bedroom
experience is better than ever.

These twentysomething suburbanites are part of a new wave of young
designer drug users who are turning to chemistry to boost biology.

``Without question, these nutrients are the best thing to happen to us
since the night we met,'' says Peter, 25.

``Love potions'' are far from unique to our technologically obsessed,
premillennial age. The cultural quest for a potion to enhance sexual
desire, pleasure and performance reaches back to ancient times. Each age
offered an answer: henbane, mandrake, ginseng, oysters, Spanish Fly,
vitamin E.

But a curious blend of modern philosophy and current science and some
outright lust put a brand new twist on this ageold practice. While
shamans, alchemists and scientists have long worked with herbs and plants,
attention now focuses on brain chemistry.

And no longer is it just those people having trouble with sex who are
turning to drugs. It's a generation of young people brought up on
cyberpunk science fiction, designer drugs and a fastchanging world of
scientific advances placing faith in technology to enhance everything.
If that means dropping drugs and vitamins to make their sex lives better,
they conclude, then why not?

It's called prosexual pharmacology.

Fans claim certain drugs have a dazzling array of effects on the body and
mind. They're said to improve mechanics, physical qualities and here's
the kicker even the feeling of intimacy. The different substances get
various reactions from doctors, from nods of agreement to wideeyed dismay.
Most seem skeptical about many of the claims and advise against
selfprescribing chemicals of any sort.

Many items in the magicmoment medicine cabinet are only as far away as the
nearest health food or drug store.

Others are bought south of the border and brought here, where they're legal
to use, but illegal to sell. One is sold illegally as a street drug.

And there are mail order companies in Switzerland, Greece and Thailand
which will mail the hightech designer drugs direct to your door.

``We've always worked well together, sexually. There is nothing wrong with
either of our plumbing,'' Peter is quick to point out.

``We've both always strived to be our best at everything school, jobs,
everything,'' adds 21yearold Maxine.

``If someone told me a new soap got me cleaner, I'd easily use it. So why
shouldn't I turn to something that's going to make our sex better?

``Is that so weird?''

Perhaps to some.

Few things expose the generation gap more than prosex pharmacology.

Most outside of Generation X look at it with fear and loathing. In fact, it
is the reason Peter and Maxine didn't want their last name published.

``Everyone our own age or younger thinks we're on to something really,
really great,'' says Maxine.

The logic is simple.

Science can decrease the sex drive in pedophiles and sex offenders, and
ease a myriad of sexrelated difficulties from menopause to the inability
to maintain an erection.

RELIANCE ON CHEMISTRY

So why not flip all that around a bit.

Why can't drugs increase normallyfunctioning sexual chemistry to boost
pleasure and performance?

``I have no philosophical problem with the whole idea of better living
through chemistry,'' says John Morgenthaler, author of the first book on
prosexual pharmacology.

``Candlelight and wine is a good example of an old sexual enhancer. There
is no fundamental difference between that and these, just in the
sophistication of the approach.

``If you wanted to get really pure, then you wouldn't even use the wine.''

He compares it to those who grab a coffee in the morning for a caffeine
boost at work that, too, is chemically enhanced performance.

Some people tout simple vitamins such as niacin, vitamin B5 and vitamin E.
Others turn to herbs such as gingko biloba, gotu kola and ginseng. And the
hardcore advocates look to brainaltering chemicals such as GHB,
bromocriptine and Deprenyl.

Morgenthaler is quick to distance the substances he promotes from the
neverending supply of miracle curealls that are high on elaborate claims,
but completely devoid of merit.

But how can every lovelorn teenager sort the possible wheat from a
staggering array of chaff?

Dealing with the controversy over what fires the libido takes more than
combing medical journals. It involves cutting through layers of
intellectual snobbery.

Many in the health food granola set shun the chemicals as unnatural and
dangerous. Their motto is if it grows it's good, if it's synthetic it's
suspect.

On the other hand, cyberpunks dismiss the health food nuts as oldfashioned
dealers of old wives' tales and medieval mysticism.

And doctors generally don't want you experimenting with any of it until
tests prove it safe and effective.

The debate breaks down to two significant questions: What works and what is
safe?

While the philosophy is easy, the science is less clear.

Everyone should be aware of potential health hazards from products promoted
for selftreatment.

Missing are some massive safeguards.

The products are rarely labelled with composition, directions and potential
risks. Most are not scientifically tested, and drugs bought on the street
come with no safeguards at all.

While the lack of scientific study on some products doesn't mean they don't
work clearly things happen in nature that haven't been quantified by
science danger lies in an absence of guidelines on dosage and use.

MEDICAL WARNINGS

Dr. Stuart MacLeod, director of the Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre
at St. Joseph's Hospital, doesn't buy many of the claims. He suggests those
not experiencing sexual problems should not mess with the drugs.

``Finding the correct dosage is not a trivial thing,'' MacLeod says.

``Any doctor who would write a Deprenyl or bromocriptine prescription for
(prosexual) purposes would be cruising near the line of losing their
license.''

And he warns you can easily be conned. Sexual performance, with all it's
psychological aspects, is extremely susceptible to the placebo effect of
drugs (when a positive expectation enhances the perceived effect).

There is a clear delineation between the junk science of miracle cures and
a select few substances with some sound science behind them.

The term ``prosexual drugs'' was coined in 1993 by a doctor from the New
Jersey University of Medicine and Dentistry while examining an array of
``new aphrodisiacs.''

Those striving for better sex through chemistry joyfully embraced the term
as it stripped away the baggage that came with the word ``aphrodisiac.''

In his 1993 landmark paper on prosex drugs, Dr. Raymond Rosen examines the
strides made in the last decade in identifying prosexual effects of some
substances.

While prosex pharmacology is most certainly a fringe activity, decreased
libido is the most common concern expressed by patients when they discuss
sexual issues with their doctors.

So while the research is done in the name of curing problems, the answers
are being used by those interested in pushing limits between the sheets.

For many young people the big draw is claims of heightened intimacy.

In an age of barroom pickups and onenight stands, it seems one of the
stumbling blocks to satisfying sex is actually being in love with your
partner.

Traditionalists equate chemically induced intimacy to reducing the role of
your partner to that of a sex doll.

Welcome to modernday designer reality.

Says Morgenthaler, ``Some are useful to improving the emotional quality,
and some just improve the raw physical side.''

One of the hottest prosexual drugs is GHB, technically called
Gammahydroxybutyrate. GHB occurs naturally in most cells of the human
body, most heavily in the part of the brain which mediates sexuality.

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

It was sold in North American health food stores until the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration classified it as a controlled substance at the tail end
of 1990, over concerns for abuse potential. It can still be bought legally
in Europe.

Its medical uses have included anesthesia and treating alcohol withdrawal
symptoms and insomnia.

Says Morgenthaler: ``The GHB wouldn't be part of a daily routine. The GHB
would be more of a thing for a special occasion, along the lines of a toast
with red wine.

``It really works. It definitely has a prosexual effect.''

Dr. Andreas Freitag, the physician who treated two Hamilton teenagers
brought to McMaster University Medical Centre in a coma in May, warns GHB
can also kill.

Originally, GHB was manufactured by drug companies, but with its growing
popularity among the nightclub set and with body builders, most of it here
is now homebrew stuff sold on the street. That makes it dangerous.

``The problem with this drug is that you don't know its purity, you don't
know its concentration. They think if you take a little and it's good,
taking more is better.''

He says it can cause unconsciousness or even death if misused or
combined with alcohol.

He also worries about the potential for it being a ``daterape drug,''
because in high doses it can knock someone out.

Prosex proponents claim GHB gives a warm, fuzzy high with a feeling of
being pleasantly connected to those around you.

There has been no scientific research on the prosexual effects of GHB, but
it seems to be targeting the right area: GHB fiddles with GABA, which is an
inhibitory neurotransmitter with farreaching effects on sexual behaviour.

Some of the most scientifically substantiated prosex results come from
drugs which effect the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin brain
chemicals related to human emotion, mood and behaviour.

Researchers are linking dopamine and serotonin to everything from
depression to addiction and overeating.

``There is growing evidence that dopaminergic stimulation of receptors in
the forebrain and midbrain areas generally leads to increased sexual
responsivity and arousal,'' Rosen writes.

Unfortunately, the studies have largely been on male rats, with their
relevance to what you do Saturday night still in some doubt.

The human dimensions generally escaped notice until studies on treating
Parkinson's disease turned up something unusual in the early 1970s.

Soon after Ldopa became clinically available for Parkinson's patients,
reports of increased sexual activation appeared. Ldopa is an amino acid
that the body uses to produce dopamine.

A decade later, increased sexual interest and activity of men on Ldopa
were welldocumented in medical journals.

Toronto's Dr. Morton Shulman, himself battling Parkinson's disease, first
brought the Ldopa effect under the brand name Deprenyl to North
America in the 1980s, after waging lengthy battles for Canadian testing
approval. It made the 72yearold physician and pharmaceutical entrepreneur
a millionaire.

Shulman himself agrees the drug has a prosexual side effect. ``That's what
they say, and I felt that personally as well.

``But you feel better (when taking Deprenyl) so I'm not convinced it's
anything more than that. It is a very common offlabel use.''

IMPRESSIVE TEST RESULTS

Shulman is onto a new product he now promotes with the vigour once reserved
for Deprenyl.

Ardor, formally called Libido until a trademark conflict arose, is made
from powdered, fertilized chicken eggs.

Sounds flaky on the surface, but Dr. Jerald Bain, a University of Toronto
endocrinologist, says three controlled European tests show impressive
results of Ardor tackling impotence.

Bain, also director of medical and scientific affairs for Shulman's
company, says largescale clinical trials were set to begin last month in
Canada after an 18month battle with Health Canada, and in the U. S., but
they have now been sidetracked.

Bain says the sex stimulation studies are now on hold while the company
instead probes possible effects on cancer.

Derived from the bark of a west African tree, yohimbe has for centuries
been used as an aphrodisiac.

Yohimbe also contains agents that effect dopamine and serotonin transmission.

A Queen's University research group conducted a controlled study of yohimbe
on males with erectile failure. Doctors found 42 per cent of the subjects
on the yohimbe treatment reported improvement.

Yohimbe was widely available overthecounter in health food stores a few
years ago, but now is only available by doctor's prescription.

Despite the change in status, products listing yohimbe as an ingredient are
still found in some health store shelves.

In the U.S. it is legally sold cheaply in drug stores.

CLAIMS

Larginine is an amino acid, a nutrient found in most protein foods. It is
used by the body to manufacture nitric oxide, which is essential for
erectile tissue in both men and women.

You get arginine through a healthy diet, but prosexual proponents claim
more arginine through daily supplements translates into better erections.

One recent study by doctors at the New York University School of Medicine
saw six of 15 impotent men reporting improved function with large doses of
arginine, compared to none of the 15 men on a placebo.

But it is still unknown whether additional arginine elevates nitric oxide
levels above natural levels.

Again, it leaves promising but incomplete results.

In the U.S., arginine is sold over the counter without restriction. In
Canada it can't be sold legally, but can be brought across the border for
personal use. It can also be bought under the counter at some stores.

Young people turning to drugs for better sex comes as a big surprise to
Joyce Askwith, a retired social worker who specialized in sex therapy and
sex education with McMaster University's Faculty of Health Sciences.

``I saw literally thousands of people about their sexuality,'' says Askwith.

``Some wanted to increase their sexual appetite and some their performance.
But very seldom was it purely the physical quality. If they could have an
orgasm, that was what mattered.''

For some, that's clearly no longer enough.

MORE USE PREDICTED

Askwith has concerns about looking to drugs rather than communication to
boost sex.

``If you need drugs to attain intimacy, it makes me wonder if you're having
difficulty negotiating through life. Combining the physical with the
emotional side gives you the quality.

``I'm rooted in reality. I want full control and not to make things up
within myself.''

Neil Gloster, owner of the Horn Of Plenty health food store in Dundas,
finds himself firmly in the middle. He sells many of the vitamins and herbs
Morgenthaler suggests, but shies away from much of the trend.

``If you want to do it naturally, it can be done with herbs and minerals.
There is no need for designer drugs. Candlelight and wine will do it
without messing around with things you might not want to be fooling with.''

``How about music?'' asks MacLeod. ``Lots of things change the transmitters
in the brain.

``The best aphrodisiac is the right partner. I realize that sounds terribly
stodgy.''

Adds Askwith: ``Creativity can outdo drugs.''

Rosen sees a resurgence of medical interest in prosex drugs and predicts
more and more research and use.

After examining the research, he concludes: ``Although none of the drugs
considered here have achieved the status of a clinically safe and reliably
effective prosexual agent, several promising candidates have emerged.''

For those prepared to live a little on the edge, ``promising'' is enough to
make themselves willing and unmonitored test subjects.