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No Illegal Substances Found in Liquid From ‘Rave’ Party

The Los Angeles Police Department’s laboratory has concluded that the liquid concoction that sickened New Year’s Eve party-goers does not contain illegal substances or the drug GHB, a police spokesman said Friday.

Officials are conducting further tests on the vials of liquid labeled “fX,” which 31 revelers at a “rave” party in the Grand Olympic Auditorium consumed before experiencing symptoms that required hospital treatment.

Police suspect that the “problem ingredient” in “Orange fX Rush,” “Lemon fX Drop” and “Cherry fX Bomb” is a legal root extract called kava, which is used as a dietary supplement and relaxant. According to an LAPD lab analysis, the vials also contain a large amount of caffeine. The Food and Drug Administration is currently testing for kava and other noncontrolled substances that might have caused the reactions, which included dizziness, fainting and shortness of breath.

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LAPD spokesman Ed Funes said the lab tests were able to rule out the presence of GHB--or gammahydroxybutyrate--a noncontrolled substance that caused six people to collapse at a Hollywood nightclub last November--and other illegal drugs including Rohypnol, the so-called date-rape drug.

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