drdĒv
10-14-2005, 09:37 PM
Daily Record/Sunday News
Friday, October 14, 2005
Southern Regional Police said Creag Johnson wasn't trying to cure a nagging cough when he allegedly tried to steal Robitussin from a grocery store last month.
Police said Johnson told them he was looking for a cheap high.
"It's amazing what kids will put up their nose or what kids will drink," said Helen Gyimesi, a drug- and alcohol-prevention specialist with Memorial Behavioral Health.
Johnson and a friend each grabbed a bottle of Robitussin from Giant in Shrewsbury Township just before 4:30 a.m. Sept. 30 and tried to leave the store without paying, Southern Regional Police Officer Daniel Teague said.
A store manager spotted the two teens and tried to stop them, but Johnson shoved the manager and both escaped, Teague said.
Police said they identified Johnson from surveillance footage. He was arrested Wednesday on robbery and harassment charges and placed in York County Prison. Teague said lesser charges are pending against the second suspect.
Gyimesi, who has spent 14 years educating parents and teens in York County, said many young people with substance-abuse problems will take over-the-counter medicine for its mind-altering effects.
Among the most popular are cold and flu medications like Robitussin and NyQuil. Both contain alcohol, but the big draw is the chemical dextromethorphan, more commonly called DXM, Gyimesi said. It causes a "dizzy, floating feeling" in low doses.
But drinking a bottle or two causes weakness, severe disorientation and hallucinations, symptoms that are similar to the so-called "hard drug" PCP, Gyimesi said.
"They probably don't think it is a dangerous drug because it's a 'medicine,'" Gyimesi said.
Denny Hopkins, spokesman for Giant Food Stores, said medicines are among the chain's most stolen items. Many, including ones containing DXM, are placed in visible areas and usually have cameras watching them.
Store employees are also trained to watch these areas more closely than other aisles, and undercover detectives also patrol medicine displays.
Hopkins said the Shrewsbury Giant recently pulled the cold and cough drug Coricidin from store shelves and placed it behind the pharmacy counter because of a recent string of thefts.
Coricidin contains DXM and a similar chemical that can makes its effects more severe than other cold medicines, according to the manufacturer's Web site.
THE EFFECTS
Dextromethorphan, or DXM, is a common ingredient in over-the-counter cough suppressants. It is often mixed with inhalants found in aerosol sprays, which can cause heart attacks and lung paralysis.
The drug causes hallucinations by blocking chemical receptors in the brain, mimicking the naturally occurring chemical dopamine.
The body eventually stops producing dopamine if DXM is used over a long period of time.
Although it is not physically addictive, users will go through depression when they quit using DXM because dopamine, which is no longer produced, is one of the chemicals in the brain that causes happiness.
It may take six months to one year for the brain to fully regain the ability to produce dopamine.
http://ydr.com/story/main/89601/
Friday, October 14, 2005
Southern Regional Police said Creag Johnson wasn't trying to cure a nagging cough when he allegedly tried to steal Robitussin from a grocery store last month.
Police said Johnson told them he was looking for a cheap high.
"It's amazing what kids will put up their nose or what kids will drink," said Helen Gyimesi, a drug- and alcohol-prevention specialist with Memorial Behavioral Health.
Johnson and a friend each grabbed a bottle of Robitussin from Giant in Shrewsbury Township just before 4:30 a.m. Sept. 30 and tried to leave the store without paying, Southern Regional Police Officer Daniel Teague said.
A store manager spotted the two teens and tried to stop them, but Johnson shoved the manager and both escaped, Teague said.
Police said they identified Johnson from surveillance footage. He was arrested Wednesday on robbery and harassment charges and placed in York County Prison. Teague said lesser charges are pending against the second suspect.
Gyimesi, who has spent 14 years educating parents and teens in York County, said many young people with substance-abuse problems will take over-the-counter medicine for its mind-altering effects.
Among the most popular are cold and flu medications like Robitussin and NyQuil. Both contain alcohol, but the big draw is the chemical dextromethorphan, more commonly called DXM, Gyimesi said. It causes a "dizzy, floating feeling" in low doses.
But drinking a bottle or two causes weakness, severe disorientation and hallucinations, symptoms that are similar to the so-called "hard drug" PCP, Gyimesi said.
"They probably don't think it is a dangerous drug because it's a 'medicine,'" Gyimesi said.
Denny Hopkins, spokesman for Giant Food Stores, said medicines are among the chain's most stolen items. Many, including ones containing DXM, are placed in visible areas and usually have cameras watching them.
Store employees are also trained to watch these areas more closely than other aisles, and undercover detectives also patrol medicine displays.
Hopkins said the Shrewsbury Giant recently pulled the cold and cough drug Coricidin from store shelves and placed it behind the pharmacy counter because of a recent string of thefts.
Coricidin contains DXM and a similar chemical that can makes its effects more severe than other cold medicines, according to the manufacturer's Web site.
THE EFFECTS
Dextromethorphan, or DXM, is a common ingredient in over-the-counter cough suppressants. It is often mixed with inhalants found in aerosol sprays, which can cause heart attacks and lung paralysis.
The drug causes hallucinations by blocking chemical receptors in the brain, mimicking the naturally occurring chemical dopamine.
The body eventually stops producing dopamine if DXM is used over a long period of time.
Although it is not physically addictive, users will go through depression when they quit using DXM because dopamine, which is no longer produced, is one of the chemicals in the brain that causes happiness.
It may take six months to one year for the brain to fully regain the ability to produce dopamine.
http://ydr.com/story/main/89601/