Posted on 06/14/2004 9:04:21 PM PDT by neverdem
DENVER - Tammy Quist, principal of Fairview High School in Boulder, was not surprised when she learned in April that a student was in a coma after overdosing on an over-the-counter cold medicine.
"It's out there, and you know kids do it," Ms. Quist said. "It's cheap, accessible and it's not illegal if kids get caught. And it usually goes unnoticed until a kid takes too much or combines it with something to get a horrible reaction and overdoses."
Cough and cold medications containing dextromethorphan, or DXM, are becoming increasingly popular among teenagers and young adults looking for a cheap high, experts say.
There are no national statistics that track fatalities from cough and cold medications. But reports of overdoses of the drugs have doubled in the last four years, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers' Toxic Exposure Surveillance System. In 2000, poison-control centers across the country had 2,523 calls about the abuse and misuse of DXM, and 1,623 of those calls involved teenagers. By last year, that total had risen, to 4,382, with 3,271 involving teenagers.
These figures, said Dr. Alvin C. Bronstein, medical director for the Rocky Mountain Poison Control Center in Denver, are probably an underestimate.
"There is lack of awareness and easy access to these medications," Dr. Bronstein said. "Parents need to be more aware because a box of cough preparation wouldn't look that sinister."
The problem has caused some drugstores to put cough and cold medications that contain DXM behind the counter, where they are less accessible. Three states - California, New York and New Jersey - introduced legislation this year to prohibit sales to minors of products containing DXM, or to restrict the quantities that are sold. The issue of banning bulk sales will be taken up by the American Medical Association at a meeting in Chicago this week.
At the same time, some manufacturers have increased the package size of products with DXM to make them harder to shoplift.
"We have undertaken a variety of steps to educate parents, teens and schools," said Julie Lux, a spokeswoman for the Schering-Plough Corporation in Berkeley Heights, N.J., which manufactures Coricidin and other products that contain DXM.
Dextromethorphan is an ingredient in more than 125 nonprescription cough and cold medications, including forms of Robitussin, Coricidin and Vicks. It suppresses coughs by reducing sensitivity in the part of the brain that controls the cough reflex.
Officials at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association in Washington, the trade group that represents Schering-Plough and other manufacturers of over-the-counter medications, say dextromethorphan is not an addictive substance and does not produce a chemical dependence.
Experts say DXM is safe in the 15- to 30-milligram doses recommended for treating coughs or colds. But in the large doses, 100 milligrams or more, typically taken by recreational users, it can cause hallucinations and feelings of unreality. It also carries a risk of high fever, seizures and other serious adverse reactions. Teenagers sometimes refer to dextromethorphan products as Skittles, Red Devils, Robo or Triple C's. The high that the drugs produce is called "robotripping" or "skittling."
Alex M., a 17-year-old high school student, said DXM gave him a feeling of being outside his body. "I like to use it with meditations," he said. "It's just interesting for self-discovery."
He has also used the drugs at parties, where, he said, "It's more something to end the evening."
But Alex's experimentation was halted when his father, John, discovered a stash of pure DXM he had purchased online. "We have had long discussions about the side effects," his father said.
No one is sure what lies behind the recent jump in overdoses from DXM. One theory is that people who abuse it are mixing it, either inadvertently or intentionally, with other drugs, like antidepressants and antihistamines, the interaction increasing the risk of overdose and death.
The Internet may also have a role. A quick search on Google brings up dozens of sites describing how to get high on dextromethorphan. "Some of these sites will tell kids exactly how many drops of something they need to take in order to get high," said Ms. Quist, the principal.
Other Web sites warn about the risks of DXM; some include first-person accounts by former users, with photographs of teenagers vomiting the cough syrup before the high kicks in.
Some experts believe the current enthusiasm for abusing cold and cough medicines will not last.
"DXM had some experimentation in the 1960's and it died out," said Dr. Andrea G. Barthwell, deputy director for demand reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "This seems to be another blip on the radar screen. It's unlikely it will catch on in a significant way."
Ms. Quist sent a letter to parents outlining the signs of DXM abuse, which include confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision, dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech, nausea and vomiting. Most parents, she added, said they were unaware of the problem.
In the letter, Ms. Quist recommended that parents keep medications containing the ingredient in places that are not easily accessible and avoid keeping large quantities of such medications in the house.
The boy who overdosed in April, Ms. Quist said, has emerged from his coma, but she refused to comment further on his condition. Also this spring, a 20-year-old man from Arvada died from a Coricidin overdose.
In some cases, overdoses and deaths have occurred when parents or guardians have given cough or cold medications to very small children in inappropriate doses.
In May, a Colorado man pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide for causing the deaths of his two children after giving them adult cherry-flavored cough and cold medicine.
"The labels clearly state how you shouldn't use these products, and that's the first line of defense," said Tom Sanford, a spokesman for Pfizer's consumer health care unit in Morris Plains, N.J. Pfizer makes Benadryl and many other cough and cold medicines. "People need to understand this is serious medicine."
PING
Bring back Codine.
Codeine is much safer actually. The WOD is not about the safety...it is about the money and drug companies and the government which prostitutes their position for power.
ping
The trouble is that so often the hallucinogenic is mixed in OTC meds with psuedoephedrine or an antihistamine. The overdose chances are much higher with these than with dxt. (Which really just makes you sleepy and can't "suppress" a cough. Think about it, if we suppressed your cough, you'd drown!)
Yeah but back in the 1960's it was mixed with Dihydrocodeine which gave one an opiate high-that's why it was taken. It died out pretty much because most states started to require a prescription for the opiate mixture. Dextromethorphan alone, taken in large quanities is similar to an Amphetamine high.
"It's just interesting for self-discovery."Self discovery?! The boy uses cough syrup to "discover himself?!" What sort of adolescent moron needs cough syrup to masturbate?
This was one of the stories in the show "Strong Medicine" on Lifetime last night.
Next thing I know some idiot at the ADA will decide I don't need my Nyquil.
I swear I will throttle someone if they take it off the market. It's a great cold medicine.
My fever is making me hallucinate. And my cough is nasty. Better reach for the cold medicine. It's like a party around here.
Now, may I ask why colds aren't more popular with teens? Teens huddled, gathered together, exchanging and chewing on infected loogies for the thrill of the high, the rush, and the fever.
As an added bonus 1) No drug test worries. 2) Instant excuse to skip school. 3) If you ever die, it's with dignity. 4) You have that cool heroin vacant stare with the circles under the eyes at a tiny fraction of the cost of smack. 5) Killer voice for the pre-teen men.
Bring back weed. Natural, unadulterated and grows in the backyard.
Bring back homegrown tomatoes likewise. Mine aren't doing too well these days. BS: not just for the airwaves, works good in the garden too.
LOL
yup. One of the reasons I joined the eigthy-deuce was to get away from the dope permeated clique that I ran with. Ooops. *grin*
In Saudi you could get DXM over the counter without acetaminophen etc. The brand name was "Romilar". Laughter, sick feeling in the stomach...and really odd visuals. A common one was percieving solid surfaces "morphing"- i.e. you'd look at the ceiling, and percieve a rounded extrusion rolling around- kind of like being in a room with rubber surfaces, and having a beach ball on the outside pushing into the surfaces you were looking at, rolling around, deforming the ceiling, walls, etc.
Aside from the vomiting, and the loss of double digit IQ points the next three days...it was fun.
Sometimes, when I can't fall asleep and need to be up for something in the morning, I will take a dose of NyQuil. Puts me right to sleep...
It's time to ban drugstores.
How can someone down a whole bottle of Nyquil? Or any other cough syrup. I gag, choke, cry, dry heave, and make the most inhuman sounds when I have to take a TEASPOON of Nyquil. Kids today must be desperate.
note- I am not comparing smoking tobacco with getting high on cough syrup- just pointing out that people with put up with unpleasentness if they get a pay off at the end.
The first time I smoked with my friends somebody palmed cheap cigars from a local supermarket. Besides the nausea that I remember, my friends said I turned some shade of green. Unlike Clinton, I did inhale.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.