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09-27-2004, 05:23 PM
The teen's drug experience from the night before spills across the computer screen. His words paint vivid images in the Internet chat room.
"I remember pleading for my life, to just get through it . . . I felt like when my eyes were closed I was getting bigger and was about to burst out of the walls of my room. My skin literally felt like it was on fire, and I couldn't stand the pain anymore. . . .
"I layed [sic] in bed conscious for six hours, halfway in this world and halfway in another . . . I had to fight the paranoia flashes . . . Everything sounded alien to me . . .
"This is a drug that will chew you up if you let it."
And, odds are, it's in your medicine cabinet.
The teen's hallucinogenic journey spilled out of an 8-ounce bottle of Robitussin, an over-the-counter cough and cold medication available at most pharmacies. The boy drained the bottle, his body absorbing 708 milligrams of dextromethorphan, or DXM.
In small doses between 15 and 30 milligrams, DXM acts as an effective cough suppressant. In large doses the drug offers a cheap and potentially deadly psychedelic trip.
Clinical counselors and treatment centers in much of the area report increasing numbers of young clients abusing over-the-counter products with DXM. The Greater Cleveland Poison Control Center which serves five local counties is on pace to receive about 50 emergency calls about DXM this year, a 35 percent increase from 2003.
The numbers are not unlike national trends. Between 2000 and 2003, teen cases of DXM abuse reported to the nation's poison control centers more than doubled, rising from 1,623 to 3,271.
The drug is described as a poor man's Ecstasy, a pauper's PCP, and deaths linked to DXM misuse dot the country. Two central Ohio high school students ages 15 and 17 died in 2002 after ingesting large quantities of cough medication and morphine.
"It's getting scary," said Deanna Brant, a counselor with Ravenwood Mental Health Center in Geauga County, where DXM abuse seems to be spiking. "Here's this drug that's being abused, that's killing kids . . . and it's sitting on the shelf at the corner store."
In response, some pharmacies have moved certain cough-and-cold medications containing DMX - such as Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, one of the most popular products among abusers - behind the counter or taken other measures to limit access. More than 120 products, most costing between $5 and $10, contain the drug.
Earlier this year, CVS began requiring buyers of certain Coricidin products to be at least 18, a company spokesman said. Another drugstore chain, Walgreens, adopted a policy that allows customers to buy only three packages of Coricidin HBP per visit.
"We felt the need to take some action," said Carol Hively, a Walgreens spokeswoman. "We had people going through lines with more boxes than seemed necessary for personal use."
It is difficult to determine the extent of DXM abuse in the United States because the drug is not singled out in reports, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center. Officials consider it more of a secondary abuse substance; its use is not on par with alcohol or marijuana, for instance.
But the drug's popularity seems to be growing, especially among teens. They have given cough pills and syrups slang names, such as Dex, Skittles, Triple-C and Tussin. A report from the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy earlier this year said that youths are "increasingly abusing" DXM.
Locally, accounts of DXM abuse flow from all areas, some worse than others.
In Summit County, a 16-year-old boy popped dozens of Coricidin tablets at a time to earn emergency room visits in 2002 and 2003, said Dawn Jones, who oversees the substance abuse program within the county's Juvenile Court. The boy nearly died, she said.
In Medina County over the past three years, there has been a 40 percent increase in school-age children who admit to having abused an over-the-counter drug at least once, says Dawn Rist, clinical director for Medina County's Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services Inc. Hospital visits also are up.
Geauga County officials began tracking DXM use in January after seeing several abuse cases. Since then, there has been an average of three overdoses per month, said Brant, the Ravenwood counselor. One out of every three juveniles entered in Ravenwood drug programs admits having experimented with cough medications. The youngest was 8.
Worries about DXM abuse in Geauga prompted recent informational meetings with law enforcement officers, educators and pharmacists. About 100 people attended, with many coming from neighboring counties.
"The problem's going to get worse before it gets better," said Dr. Lawrence Quang, medical director of the Greater Cleveland Poison Control Center. Quang said it would not surprise him to see a fatal DXM overdose in the area soon.
"People underestimate this drug," Quang said. "It's not speed, or heroin, or cocaine, so they don't think it's dangerous. They think that because it's an over-the-counter drug, it's not going to harm them. Well, they're wrong."
Just ask Pam James.
Her daughter, Samantha, became a DXM statistic in October 2002. The 15-year-old sophomore at Delaware Hayes High School north of Columbus died after taking nine Coricidin pills and a morphine tablet on a Friday night. Her family found her unresponsive the next morning. She died without regaining consciousness.
James visits high schools now to share this story. She looks out on a room filled with young, vibrant faces and remembers her daughter wearing the same look.
Her presentation ends with a picture of a gravestone.
"I tell them, 'This is where Samantha spent her 16th birthday,' " James said. "That's the price she paid."
Link: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/...77456130290.xml (http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1096277456130290.xml)
"I remember pleading for my life, to just get through it . . . I felt like when my eyes were closed I was getting bigger and was about to burst out of the walls of my room. My skin literally felt like it was on fire, and I couldn't stand the pain anymore. . . .
"I layed [sic] in bed conscious for six hours, halfway in this world and halfway in another . . . I had to fight the paranoia flashes . . . Everything sounded alien to me . . .
"This is a drug that will chew you up if you let it."
And, odds are, it's in your medicine cabinet.
The teen's hallucinogenic journey spilled out of an 8-ounce bottle of Robitussin, an over-the-counter cough and cold medication available at most pharmacies. The boy drained the bottle, his body absorbing 708 milligrams of dextromethorphan, or DXM.
In small doses between 15 and 30 milligrams, DXM acts as an effective cough suppressant. In large doses the drug offers a cheap and potentially deadly psychedelic trip.
Clinical counselors and treatment centers in much of the area report increasing numbers of young clients abusing over-the-counter products with DXM. The Greater Cleveland Poison Control Center which serves five local counties is on pace to receive about 50 emergency calls about DXM this year, a 35 percent increase from 2003.
The numbers are not unlike national trends. Between 2000 and 2003, teen cases of DXM abuse reported to the nation's poison control centers more than doubled, rising from 1,623 to 3,271.
The drug is described as a poor man's Ecstasy, a pauper's PCP, and deaths linked to DXM misuse dot the country. Two central Ohio high school students ages 15 and 17 died in 2002 after ingesting large quantities of cough medication and morphine.
"It's getting scary," said Deanna Brant, a counselor with Ravenwood Mental Health Center in Geauga County, where DXM abuse seems to be spiking. "Here's this drug that's being abused, that's killing kids . . . and it's sitting on the shelf at the corner store."
In response, some pharmacies have moved certain cough-and-cold medications containing DMX - such as Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, one of the most popular products among abusers - behind the counter or taken other measures to limit access. More than 120 products, most costing between $5 and $10, contain the drug.
Earlier this year, CVS began requiring buyers of certain Coricidin products to be at least 18, a company spokesman said. Another drugstore chain, Walgreens, adopted a policy that allows customers to buy only three packages of Coricidin HBP per visit.
"We felt the need to take some action," said Carol Hively, a Walgreens spokeswoman. "We had people going through lines with more boxes than seemed necessary for personal use."
It is difficult to determine the extent of DXM abuse in the United States because the drug is not singled out in reports, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center. Officials consider it more of a secondary abuse substance; its use is not on par with alcohol or marijuana, for instance.
But the drug's popularity seems to be growing, especially among teens. They have given cough pills and syrups slang names, such as Dex, Skittles, Triple-C and Tussin. A report from the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy earlier this year said that youths are "increasingly abusing" DXM.
Locally, accounts of DXM abuse flow from all areas, some worse than others.
In Summit County, a 16-year-old boy popped dozens of Coricidin tablets at a time to earn emergency room visits in 2002 and 2003, said Dawn Jones, who oversees the substance abuse program within the county's Juvenile Court. The boy nearly died, she said.
In Medina County over the past three years, there has been a 40 percent increase in school-age children who admit to having abused an over-the-counter drug at least once, says Dawn Rist, clinical director for Medina County's Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services Inc. Hospital visits also are up.
Geauga County officials began tracking DXM use in January after seeing several abuse cases. Since then, there has been an average of three overdoses per month, said Brant, the Ravenwood counselor. One out of every three juveniles entered in Ravenwood drug programs admits having experimented with cough medications. The youngest was 8.
Worries about DXM abuse in Geauga prompted recent informational meetings with law enforcement officers, educators and pharmacists. About 100 people attended, with many coming from neighboring counties.
"The problem's going to get worse before it gets better," said Dr. Lawrence Quang, medical director of the Greater Cleveland Poison Control Center. Quang said it would not surprise him to see a fatal DXM overdose in the area soon.
"People underestimate this drug," Quang said. "It's not speed, or heroin, or cocaine, so they don't think it's dangerous. They think that because it's an over-the-counter drug, it's not going to harm them. Well, they're wrong."
Just ask Pam James.
Her daughter, Samantha, became a DXM statistic in October 2002. The 15-year-old sophomore at Delaware Hayes High School north of Columbus died after taking nine Coricidin pills and a morphine tablet on a Friday night. Her family found her unresponsive the next morning. She died without regaining consciousness.
James visits high schools now to share this story. She looks out on a room filled with young, vibrant faces and remembers her daughter wearing the same look.
Her presentation ends with a picture of a gravestone.
"I tell them, 'This is where Samantha spent her 16th birthday,' " James said. "That's the price she paid."
Link: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/...77456130290.xml (http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1096277456130290.xml)