Wednesday 24th June: Maryon Stewart met Alan Johnson today to call on the Home Secretary to ban the drug GBL.

21 year old Hester Stewart from Brighton, East Sussex was a medical student who had hoped to become a doctor. She died after going to a party with friends, where she is thought to have used the liquid drug GBL (Gamma Butyrolactone).

After government proposals last August to ban GBL had not been implemented, nutritionist and mother of Hester - Maryon Stewart is calling on the Government to ban the drug. The Government's drug advisers have highlighted the "harms and misuse of GBL" but ministers have yet to bring in legislation outlawing it.

The substance - a colourless, odourless liquid akin to a date-rape drug is not actually illegal, even though it is potentially fatal when combined with alcohol. Officially known as gamma-butyrolactone, partygoers refer to it as 'coma in a bottle'. It is harmless if used for the purpose it was originally intended - as a paint stripper and rust remover.

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