THIS shocking picture shows how a pretty teenager was ravaged by the effects of a legal party drug - in the space of just four years.

Mikaila Tyhurst was an attractive 18-year-old who dreamed of becoming an airline stewardess when she started taking GBL. The drug is  popular with clubbers and students and similar to the date rape drug GHB.

Now 22, she has lost her looks and her health after becoming an addict.

GBL addict Mikaila starts detox programme

Her front teeth were knocked out in a drug-induced fall, she has severe liver damage and three months ago she nearly died of an overdose.

Mikaila, from Crumpsall, has been admitted to hospital dozens of times, often unconscious, after drinking GBL (Gamma butyrolactone). The drug is set to be banned before the end of the year.

As the government this week launched a £200,000 publicity campaign, aimed at students, about the dangers of GBL , Mikaila has bravely told her story to the M.E.N and urged young people to learn from her ordeal.

Mikaila said: "It has destroyed my life. I hope that by talking about what it has done to me it might stop someone else from trying it.

"When I look at this picture of myself at my 18th birthday party I feel sick at how much I have changed, it makes me really sad."

The drug, which can be lethal in tiny doses if mixed with alcohol, is expected to be classified as a class C drug - attracting penalties of up to 14 years in prison for dealers - later this year.

Campaigner Maryon Stewart, whose daughter Hester died after taking GBL for the first time, is calling for the government to classify it as a class A drug along with heroin and ecstasy, so users would face even tougher penalties.

Mrs Stewart said: "I think GBL is every bit as dangerous as heroin and ecstasy, if not more so. Because it's lethal when combined with alcohol, it should be a class A drug."

Mikaila is backing Mrs Stewart and also appealing for products which contain GBL - including some beauty products - to be withdrawn from supermarkets and high street stores.

She said: "I have tried to contact the people who make and sell these products but they are not listening. This drug is so dangerous it should be given the highest possible rating."

GBL addict Mikaila starts detox programme

Home Secretary Alan Johnson launched the government GBL campaign, aimed mainly at the student clubbing community.

The campaign will be carried on posters, leaflets and postcards in clubs, bars and record shops and also promoted online and at events organised by the National Union of Students and the music magazine Mixmag.

Mr Johnson said: "There is sometimes a misconception that because a substance is legal it is safe to consume. That is not the case; they are dangerous chemicals.

"Through this campaign we want to educate young people who might be tempted to experiment with `legal highs' that they don't know what they are taking and these substances can have devastating effects, particularly when mixed with alcohol."

The government is in the process of banning three substances that give legal highs - GBL; the cannabis substitute spice; and the amphetamine alternative BZP.

The drugs are sold in `head shops' specialising in drug culture paraphernalia and online. Chemically some are similar in composition to the illegal drugs they replicate.