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View Full Version : Authorities wary of ‘CCC's’


drdªv€
01-10-2006, 08:19 AM
"Beware of the "Triple C."

That's the warning from drug-prevention advocates, referring to Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold, a popular alternative to inhalants among young teens.

State authorities don't yet compile statistics on cough-and-cold medicine abuse. But they fear over-the-counter medicines containing dextromethorphan, or DXM, have the same appeal, and danger, for those inhaling fumes and gases.

Two 19-year-old Cape Coral men died in February apparently from overdosing on Coricidin, which has the street nickname "Triple C."

The nonprescription cough medicine produces hallucinations when taken in large doses, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, based in Johnston, Pa.

Just before Thanksgiving, four students at a middle school west of Boca Raton overdosed on the pills and wound up spending a night in a hospital.

"My first concern for the kids was that they could suffer terrible medical consequences," said Loggers Run Principal Carol Blacharski, who later suspended the students.

Doris Carroll, community coordinator of the Palm Beach County Substance Abuse Coalition, said Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold and other DXM products remain too easy for kids to get.

"I have asked more managers of drug stores to take it off the shelves, and they haven't," she said, pointing to the recent discovery of a large quantity of empty "Triple C" packages near a school bus stop in Jupiter.

Coricidin contains DXM in 30 milligram doses; abusers often consume more than 360 milligrams, according to the Web site kidshealth.org. Other street names for DXM include "candy," "Red Devils" and "Skittles."

Walgreens, with 662 stores in Florida, has a policy blocking the sale of products with DXM to anyone under the age of 18, spokesman Michael Polzin said.

But it's still over-the-counter elsewhere, and could be in a parent's home medicine cabinet.

"Kids will always find something to use," Blacharski said.

One of the latest disturbing drug-abuse trends among youths is called "pharming parties," Carroll said. Kids get together to trade medicines and mix pills with alcohol to get high.

"It could be over-the-counter drugs as well as prescription drugs," she said.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/pal...=sfla-news-palm (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pinhalantsside08jan09,0,6183784.story?coll=sfla-news-palm)

$H@P3$HYFTR3
02-19-2006, 11:07 PM
ddude everyone hates ccc. (at least those with brainzz) BIG news eh

strange_r
02-19-2006, 11:23 PM
Originally posted by drdªv€@Jan 10 2006, 08:19 AM
"Kids will always find something to use," Blacharski said.
That's the smartest thing I've read in one of these articles. I'd rather have my kids dexing with robogels than huffing gas. Actually, I'd rather have them smoking weed, but that's illegal, of course.

since96
02-20-2006, 12:58 AM
Pharming party =S?