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03-17-2005, 05:14 PM
Evan Dawson (Rochester, NY) 03/16/05 - A growing drug trend is sending more teenagers to the hospital. Kids call it "skittling" and it is especially popular in high schools. It involves a cold medication called Coricidin that is easy to find and easy to buy.
Many kids who try skittling don't realize it's actually an intentional drug overdose.
In small doses, Coricidin can help beat your cold or cough but it almost killed one woman's (we'll call her "Jennifer") 16-year old daughter last year.
Jennifer's daughter came home one night after taking a huge does of Coricidin at a friend's house and said, “Mom, I think I'm dying.”
"Her eyes were seizing in her head,” Jennifer said. “She was shaking, and she was panicking. I was panicking. It was the scariest thing that ever happened in my life, the thought that my kid was dying and I couldn't get her to the hospital fast enough."
The trend is called "skittling" because of Coricidin's size and color. Jennifer's daughter survived and she now knows that skittling is no different from intentionally overdosing.
The maximum recommended single dose of Coricidin is two tablets, but kids who abuse it are taking five, ten, or twenty at one time.
Forensic chemist Jim Wesley said, "It can kill you, especially in combination with drugs your doctor may have prescribed…especially anti-depressants."
Jennifer's daughter continues to suffer the effect of skittling.
"She has very bad anxiety attacks,” Jennifer said, “I can't leave her alone for very long. She will call me in a panic." So Jennifer wants pharmacies to take Coricidin off shelves and sell it behind the counter.
Eckerd's Stores have done that, and they require identification, too. However, stores such as CVS still offer Coricidin in their main aisles and that concerns parents.
"This is a drug that is a problem,” Jennifer said. “It may be a small thing to you, but my daughter almost died from it. Take it off the shelves."
She said she was disappointed not to have received any response to her plea.
Symptoms and warning signs of skittling include darting (or seizing) eyes, shaking, hallucinations and a spike in body temperature.
Skittling is essentially the same as what kids call "robo-tripping" which is overdosing on Robitussin.
Jennifer said she has spoken to teenagers in the Rochester area who are still abusing those kinds of drugs because they are so easy to find.
http://www.wokr13.tv/news/local/story.aspx...A9-1A2BFC72FF5B (http://www.wokr13.tv/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=1AF5EBD6-49D6-479D-94A9-1A2BFC72FF5B)
Many kids who try skittling don't realize it's actually an intentional drug overdose.
In small doses, Coricidin can help beat your cold or cough but it almost killed one woman's (we'll call her "Jennifer") 16-year old daughter last year.
Jennifer's daughter came home one night after taking a huge does of Coricidin at a friend's house and said, “Mom, I think I'm dying.”
"Her eyes were seizing in her head,” Jennifer said. “She was shaking, and she was panicking. I was panicking. It was the scariest thing that ever happened in my life, the thought that my kid was dying and I couldn't get her to the hospital fast enough."
The trend is called "skittling" because of Coricidin's size and color. Jennifer's daughter survived and she now knows that skittling is no different from intentionally overdosing.
The maximum recommended single dose of Coricidin is two tablets, but kids who abuse it are taking five, ten, or twenty at one time.
Forensic chemist Jim Wesley said, "It can kill you, especially in combination with drugs your doctor may have prescribed…especially anti-depressants."
Jennifer's daughter continues to suffer the effect of skittling.
"She has very bad anxiety attacks,” Jennifer said, “I can't leave her alone for very long. She will call me in a panic." So Jennifer wants pharmacies to take Coricidin off shelves and sell it behind the counter.
Eckerd's Stores have done that, and they require identification, too. However, stores such as CVS still offer Coricidin in their main aisles and that concerns parents.
"This is a drug that is a problem,” Jennifer said. “It may be a small thing to you, but my daughter almost died from it. Take it off the shelves."
She said she was disappointed not to have received any response to her plea.
Symptoms and warning signs of skittling include darting (or seizing) eyes, shaking, hallucinations and a spike in body temperature.
Skittling is essentially the same as what kids call "robo-tripping" which is overdosing on Robitussin.
Jennifer said she has spoken to teenagers in the Rochester area who are still abusing those kinds of drugs because they are so easy to find.
http://www.wokr13.tv/news/local/story.aspx...A9-1A2BFC72FF5B (http://www.wokr13.tv/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=1AF5EBD6-49D6-479D-94A9-1A2BFC72FF5B)