drdĒv
01-18-2005, 10:37 AM
BROKEN ARROW (AP) - Authorities suspect teen-agers at a Broken Arrow school are distilling cough syrups into a powder to get high by ingesting the powder in capsules.
Police caught South Intermediate High School students with drugs last month, but didn't identify the substance until recently.
Lab results show the drug found at the school is dextromethorphan, also known as DXM. It's the active ingredient in liquid cough suppressants such as Robitussin and Coricidin.
Authorities say DXM can cause a high similar to LSD if it's taken in large doses.
It's just one of the drugs Broken Arrow school officials are combating.
Last week, a 15-year-old student was arrested for selling Ritalin pills from his prescription. Teens crush the Ritalin, which is prescribed for hyperactivity, and snort it like cocaine, authorities said. It gives a high similar to speed.
Broken Arrow police say they had rarely seen problems with Ritalin or DXM until now, although the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has warned local officers of the trend.
"It's the next big wave we'll have to face," said an undercover drug officer who participated in the Broken Arrow high school investigations.
Two Broken Arrow students are suspected of distributing DXM and likely will be arrested, officials said. At one student's home, police found "capsule presses" used to put the drug into pill form.
Authorities believe the students were duped into believing they were buying the designer drug Ecstasy. DXM is cheaper and can be just as toxic.
Rick Murray, a counselor for the Palmer Drug Abuse Program, said teens have admitted taking as many as 20 pills at one time.
"Taking this much medication internally is very dangerous," he said. "The bad part is what it would do to the lungs, liver and kidneys."
The attraction to the drug is a high that teens say is five times as powerful as laughing gas, Murray said. It gives them tunnel vision and the feeling of being conscious but not responsive.
Ritalin makes users feel "energetic, on top of the world, bullet-proof," Murray said. "They feel like they are in total control of themselves."
The Palmer Drug Abuse Program handles as many as 500 appointments per month with teen-agers who come from public school systems or juvenile authorities, Murray said. The program recently assigned one drug counselor to the Broken Arrow area.
"Broken Arrow has a hell of a problem," Murray said. "Parents really don't know what's going on. Half have this drug in the medicine cabinet.
"Schools are clueless; parents are clueless."
Link: http://amarillo.com/stories/020401/usn_abuse.shtml
Police caught South Intermediate High School students with drugs last month, but didn't identify the substance until recently.
Lab results show the drug found at the school is dextromethorphan, also known as DXM. It's the active ingredient in liquid cough suppressants such as Robitussin and Coricidin.
Authorities say DXM can cause a high similar to LSD if it's taken in large doses.
It's just one of the drugs Broken Arrow school officials are combating.
Last week, a 15-year-old student was arrested for selling Ritalin pills from his prescription. Teens crush the Ritalin, which is prescribed for hyperactivity, and snort it like cocaine, authorities said. It gives a high similar to speed.
Broken Arrow police say they had rarely seen problems with Ritalin or DXM until now, although the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has warned local officers of the trend.
"It's the next big wave we'll have to face," said an undercover drug officer who participated in the Broken Arrow high school investigations.
Two Broken Arrow students are suspected of distributing DXM and likely will be arrested, officials said. At one student's home, police found "capsule presses" used to put the drug into pill form.
Authorities believe the students were duped into believing they were buying the designer drug Ecstasy. DXM is cheaper and can be just as toxic.
Rick Murray, a counselor for the Palmer Drug Abuse Program, said teens have admitted taking as many as 20 pills at one time.
"Taking this much medication internally is very dangerous," he said. "The bad part is what it would do to the lungs, liver and kidneys."
The attraction to the drug is a high that teens say is five times as powerful as laughing gas, Murray said. It gives them tunnel vision and the feeling of being conscious but not responsive.
Ritalin makes users feel "energetic, on top of the world, bullet-proof," Murray said. "They feel like they are in total control of themselves."
The Palmer Drug Abuse Program handles as many as 500 appointments per month with teen-agers who come from public school systems or juvenile authorities, Murray said. The program recently assigned one drug counselor to the Broken Arrow area.
"Broken Arrow has a hell of a problem," Murray said. "Parents really don't know what's going on. Half have this drug in the medicine cabinet.
"Schools are clueless; parents are clueless."
Link: http://amarillo.com/stories/020401/usn_abuse.shtml