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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Top Galleries: December 4, 2006 Over-the-counter medicines fueling teen drug abuse By Karen Kaplan and Seema Mehta Los Angeles Times Talk about it! Teen use of over-the-counter cold and cough medicines to get a cheap high — a practice known as “robotripping” — is rising 50 percent a year and becoming one of the fastest growing drug abuse problems in the U.S., according to a study released Monday. Since 1999, teen abuse of Coricidin pills, Robitussin syrup and other common medications has risen 10-fold, data from the California Poison Control System show. The widely available and inexpensive medicines are growing in popularity while use of illegal drugs such as Ecstasy, LSD and the date rape drug GHB have dropped, according to the report. “Hey, Mom and Dad, pay attention,” said Marilyn MacDougall, executive director of the Orange County Sheriff Department’s drug abuse prevention program. “Over-the-counter medicines are the upcoming way your kids are going to abuse drugs.” The cold remedies are valued for dextromethorphan, which can cause hallucinations, out-of-body experiences and, in extreme cases, death. The drug, known by kids as DXM or Dex, was first abused in the 1960s when it was in a cough medicine called Romilar, which was withdrawn from the market in 1973. Health officials spotted a revival in the late 1990s. About two-thirds of abusers now take Coricidin HBP Cold & Cough, whose candy-red tablets are nicknamed CCC, triple C and skittles. Robotripping takes its name from Robitussin, the second most popular drug. A study in May by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America estimated that 2.4 million teens — about 1 in 10 — got high on cough medicines in 2005. That puts it on a par with cocaine and slightly above methamphetamines. School administrators are learning of the craze the hard way. In El Dorado, a community of apple orchards and Christmas tree farms outside of Sacramento, Calif., seven high school students were rushed to the emergency room in October after taking Coricidin. The Union Mine High School students had purchased several boxes at a dollar store and swallowed five to eight tablets each during their morning snack time. Administrators learned of it after one student started vomiting in class. “This is new to us — it caught a lot of people by surprise,” Principal Carl Fickle said. “It didn’t catch the kids by surprise.” The latest study, published in the December issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, found that the growth of dextromethorphan abuse is being driven by children between the ages of 9 and 17. Abuse is most common among 15- and 16-year-olds, the study found. The number of 12- and 13-year-olds using the drug exceeds the number of 18-year-olds, indicating that it is popular in middle schools as well as high schools, according to senior author Ilene B. Anderson, a toxicology management specialist at the California Poison Control System in San Francisco. “I did not expect 12-year-olds to be abusing it,” Anderson said. The study was based on a review of 1,382 calls made to the California Poison Control Center over a six-year period involving cases of dextromethorphan exposure. Those calls were generally made in emergency situations, usually by physicians treating overdose patients in hospitals. They represent only a fraction of overall drug use, Anderson said. “If someone is abusing dextro and gets a high, they don’t call us,” she said. “I think it is grossly underreported.” The researchers compared the California findings with general statistics from the American Association of Poison Control Centers and the Drug Abuse Warning Network and found that the trends here are in line with the rest of the country. Dextromethorphan appeals to teens because it “is easily and legally available in most pharmacies and large grocery stores,” Anderson said. “It’s relatively inexpensive — in many cases, one package can cause hallucinations.” Web sites offer testimonials about the buzz the drug provides. Some users describe it as “slightly intoxicating” while others compare their experiences to the hallucinatory effects of ketamine or PCP. Dextromethorphan users can consult online calculators — where they enter their weight, brand of medicine and “plateau” of high they want to achieve — to determine how big a dose to take. And because the cough remedies look innocuous, Anderson said, “you can have a package, and your parents would never even suspect it, compared to a little white bag of powder which certainly would cause a red flag to go up.” When taken in large quantities, dextromethorphan can make the heart race and blood pressure rise. Some users become agitated while others become lethargic, confused, dizzy or act as if they are inebriated. Life-threatening side-effects include seizures and elevated body temperature, Anderson said. Users also can have adverse reactions from overdosing on other ingredients in the cold remedies. High quantities of pseudoephedrine and antihistamines, for example, can cause irregular heart beats, high blood pressure and seizures, Anderson said. “The one that scares me the most is acetaminophen (the medicine in Tylenol) because it can cause liver failure,” she said. State lawmakers in California and elsewhere have tried to ban sales to minors of the hundreds of products that contain dextromethorphan, but those efforts have so far failed. Some drug stores, including Walgreens, Rite Aid and Wal-Mart, voluntarily have restricted access to customers younger than 18. Federal legislation that would restrict the sale of dextromethorphan powder to researchers, drug makers and other legitimate users is expected to be voted on this week by the House of Representatives. The legislative effort was prompted by the overdose deaths last year of five teens in Florida, Washington and Virginia. Current Comments: This has been making news for years.It's not a new problem at all. When are lawmakers or all of the stores themselves going to simply ban the sale of these drugs (over the counter or not)to minors? Anyone under 18 should not be allowed to buy any drugs.Schools can't dispense even asprin to minors anymore.Why can the stores continue to sell kids drugs we have known for years they are abusing?A clerk in El Dorado,CA sold a case of drugs to seven students? We just aren't paying attention anymore... Steve L. Iverson - Ashland, Jefferson - December 4th, 11:54 PM Legalize drugs altogether and let Mr.Darwin do his thing. If kids today had access to safer highs, marijuana for instance, they won't be doing crap like this. Kids today are fed so much (expletive) on drugs they make poor choices. Face it people have used drugs since the beginning of time. Laws won't stop it, but honest drug education would allow for those who choose to partake make the right choices. In the end this would save more lives. And then there is that reduction in crime.... Dave - Ashland, OR - December 5th, 12:07 AM Will high schools going have to open in-house psycho clinics because insecure students can't cope with modern life? Geez, kids get a life. You're going to make purchasing these drugs to fight the common cold very difficult because you can't control yourselves. Mark - Charlotte, NC - December 5th, 10:20 AM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us