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02-22-2005, 08:15 AM
Monday, February 21, 2005 10:02 AM CST
By ASHLEY GARDNER
Linda Murphy recently got the scare of her life when she discovered her 14-year-old son Bryan Murphy had taken Coricidin. He didn't take it for a cold, but to get high.
"He was at a friend's house and I got a call from my oldest son telling me what he had done," Linda said. "I had never even heard of it."
She made the short trip to his friend's house and picked both boys up.
"He first tried to lie to me but I told him I had already talked to his brother. When I seen them, I could tell something was wrong," Linda recalls. "They were lethargic, like they weren't feeling good and after I got through with them, I think they were scared to death."
Coricidin is a cold medicine for people with heart conditions and contains dextromethorphan, a dissociative anesthetic that can create psychedelic effects at high doses.
"What scared me is that I got on the Internet and I was reading about it. They say something like 80 to 90 percent of Coricidin sold is used recreationally by kids," Linda said. "It's going through this community big time and I don't think kids have a clue how much it can hurt them."
Young Bryan heard about the drug through-where else-friends at school. "They told me it was fun," he said.
Bryan walked into a local store and purchased the drug with no questions asked.
"I was trying not to look nervous," he said.
A couple of hours and four pills later, the effects of the drug had kicked in, but they didn't live up to Bryan's expectations.
"I got dizzy after awhile. I sort of felt sick when I would walk," he remembers. " I got a headache. It was not a good experience."
The experience may not have been good, but medical experts say it was not as bad as it could have been.
Substantial dissociation and hallucinations can occur when taken in excessively large amounts, 10 ounces or more. Users report time and space distortion and out-of-body sensations. Some have reported contacting alien beings or spirits, according to the Current Psychiatry Website.
"I took him to his pediatrician a few days later. She told him how many kids are in the emergency room each weekend overdosing on stuff like this," Linda said. "It's a scary thought to realize how prevalent dex is among school age children."
Linda said parents need to wake up and find out what their kids are doing. She has.
"Anybody can do this. People don't think it's their kids, but it is. It doesn't matter what their family background is," she said. "If you have kids, you have to be aware and never say it couldn't be my child. That's the biggest mistake parents make."
It's an experience Linda hopes she never has to repeat. But when it comes to trust, she knows they still have a ways to go.
"I have made him read so much material. I think I've scared him," Linda said.
"I want to trust him. I think you have to trust but not blind trust."
As for Bryan, he says he's learned his lesson.
"I will never do it again. It's not worth it," he said.
LINK: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2...news/news04.txt (http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2005/02/21/local_news/news/news04.txt)
By ASHLEY GARDNER
Linda Murphy recently got the scare of her life when she discovered her 14-year-old son Bryan Murphy had taken Coricidin. He didn't take it for a cold, but to get high.
"He was at a friend's house and I got a call from my oldest son telling me what he had done," Linda said. "I had never even heard of it."
She made the short trip to his friend's house and picked both boys up.
"He first tried to lie to me but I told him I had already talked to his brother. When I seen them, I could tell something was wrong," Linda recalls. "They were lethargic, like they weren't feeling good and after I got through with them, I think they were scared to death."
Coricidin is a cold medicine for people with heart conditions and contains dextromethorphan, a dissociative anesthetic that can create psychedelic effects at high doses.
"What scared me is that I got on the Internet and I was reading about it. They say something like 80 to 90 percent of Coricidin sold is used recreationally by kids," Linda said. "It's going through this community big time and I don't think kids have a clue how much it can hurt them."
Young Bryan heard about the drug through-where else-friends at school. "They told me it was fun," he said.
Bryan walked into a local store and purchased the drug with no questions asked.
"I was trying not to look nervous," he said.
A couple of hours and four pills later, the effects of the drug had kicked in, but they didn't live up to Bryan's expectations.
"I got dizzy after awhile. I sort of felt sick when I would walk," he remembers. " I got a headache. It was not a good experience."
The experience may not have been good, but medical experts say it was not as bad as it could have been.
Substantial dissociation and hallucinations can occur when taken in excessively large amounts, 10 ounces or more. Users report time and space distortion and out-of-body sensations. Some have reported contacting alien beings or spirits, according to the Current Psychiatry Website.
"I took him to his pediatrician a few days later. She told him how many kids are in the emergency room each weekend overdosing on stuff like this," Linda said. "It's a scary thought to realize how prevalent dex is among school age children."
Linda said parents need to wake up and find out what their kids are doing. She has.
"Anybody can do this. People don't think it's their kids, but it is. It doesn't matter what their family background is," she said. "If you have kids, you have to be aware and never say it couldn't be my child. That's the biggest mistake parents make."
It's an experience Linda hopes she never has to repeat. But when it comes to trust, she knows they still have a ways to go.
"I have made him read so much material. I think I've scared him," Linda said.
"I want to trust him. I think you have to trust but not blind trust."
As for Bryan, he says he's learned his lesson.
"I will never do it again. It's not worth it," he said.
LINK: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2...news/news04.txt (http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2005/02/21/local_news/news/news04.txt)