An Immediate‐Response Detection System for γ‐Hydroxybutyrate to Enhance Personal Safety in Social Environments

Drug misuse and abuse remain critical global challenges, driving public health and societal burdens through increased morbidity and mortality, impaired driving, interpersonal violence, and escalating healthcare and criminal-justice expenditures. Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) remains a pressing societal concern, and γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a representative DFSA agent categorized as a date rape drug. GHB is endogenously derived, exists at low concentrations, and has a short detection window and weak optical features that complicate conventional assays and contribute to missed or delayed detection. These challenges are especially important because GHB can induce rapid clinical presentation that overlaps with alcohol or other sedatives, making timely identification critical for acute management and safeguarding decisions. This necessitates reliable detection of exogenous GHB in m…