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04-03-2007, 10:05 PM
04/03/07
Parents are being warned by Dublin Police about a new drug trend hitting kids as early as middle school.
According to Dublin Police Cpl. James Champion, a new trend for children is to use over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications to “get high.”
“A lot of parents hear kids talking about Skittles and think they’re talking about candy,” said Champion. “They’re not talking about candy.”
Actually the children are using a slang term “Skittle” or “Skittling” that refers to the use of a cough and cold medicine called Coricidin HBP. The medicine resembles the candy and therefore the name. The children are actually trying to get enough of the Dextromethon, also known as DXM, a drug used to replace codeine in the Coricidin and other cold medications to get them high. Other street names may refer to “doing Triple Cs,” meaning Coricidan Cough and Cold.
Champion said a 24-box of the Coricidan can be purchased for around $5.29 - a small amount of money for a child to get from an unsuspecting parent.
“Thirteen to 16-year-olds are really abusing them,” he said, adding this past weekend an 18-year-old was stopped who had hard liquor and beer in his vehicle. Yet, he was not drinking, but failed the field sobriety test. It turns out the youth had taken the over-the-counter medication and was arrested and charged with driving under the Influence of drugs.
He said the kids want to argue that using the over the counter medications can’t get a person charged with DUI, but it can because it hampers the driving ability.
“It’s just as deadly as driving under the influence of alcohol,” he said. “It’s a big problem all over the country. We want parents to be aware if their child is driving he will be charged with DUI — drugs.”
The average child using the OTC will take between 16 and 24 pills at one time.
“Some go as high as 50 pills if they’ve been doing it a long time,” said Champion.
According to a Web site explaining the use of the drugs and its side effects, DXM was added to cough medicine as a replacement for Codeine phosphate because of its lack of addiction potential and sedative side-effects. The effects of DXM are described as having a buoyant, vaguely psychedelic effect similar to a mixture of alcohol, opiates and marijuana. With higher doses, intense euphoria and vivid imagination may occur as bizarre feelings of dissociation increase. With very high doses, profound alterations in consciousness have been noted, and users often report out of body experiences or temporary psychosis. DXM can cause psychological addiction, and at the high doses needed for recreational use it has the side effects of a blotchy skin rash, sweating, dilated pupils, difficulty urinating, increased urination frequency, explosive diarrhea, fever, tachycardia, high blood pressure, loss of appetite, shakiness, seizures, insomnia, and possible coma and death. In addition, there is often vomiting, though this is not caused by the DXM itself. The vomiting and nausea usually occur because of the other chemicals in the medicine, most commonly being Guaifenesin. These other ingredients create a risk of overdose. Deaths have been reported, the Web site shows. There are many web sites that explain the drugs and their recreational uses. In fact, one news article claims many of the children are learning to use the drugs from the Internet.
“This can cause death,” said Champion. Overdoses on the drug have occurred in Laurens County already. Champion said parents should be able to tell if a child is using the medication. They should notice a loss of muscle control and slurred speech. But, he warns the effects only last about six hours. Theoretically, a child could use the medicine early in the evening and have the effects of the use gone by the time they were picked up hours later.
In fact, this past weekend Champion was talking with a medical professional at a local teen hangout and the medical professional pointed out a child who was showing signs of abusing medication.
Champion said because so many parents drop their young kids off at various locations and leave them, those kids are wandering outside the locations and going other places.
He advised parents to take a trip back to the location where they drop off their young children some time later, before the pickup time to look for their child.
“They’re there when they’re dropped off and there when they’re picked up... Where are they going?,” said Champion of the questions parents should ask themselves.
He said even those parents who ride by and see their child’s vehicle at various locations shouldn’t take that as proof their child is inside.
“Their car is there, but they’re not there,” he said, adding the kids often leave locations in groups. He has seen 12 and 13-year-olds smoking in parking lots and behind other buildings. Champion said he stopped one child who was smoking at 14 and was told the child’s parents were aware that he smoked.
“What can we do,” he said, of the lack of concern shown by some parents, or the fact that parents trust their children and then later find out they’ve been led astray by others.
In recent weeks reports have been filed and arrests made by other Dublin Police Officers due to other drugs found on young teens who were in the company of older teens, who are either high school dropouts or those old enough to be out of school who lurk in the alleys and parking lots around teen hangouts.
“One parent came down to check on his kids,” said Champion, adding that while that dad’s children were behaving inside, the dad saw plenty. “He saw what other kids are doing.”
Champion said he just wants parents to be aware that their children may seem to be in a safe environment, but no one can control when or if the kids leave and what they do while they’re gone.
He will gladly speak to any civic, parent or school or other organization that is interested in learning about drug abuse, how to help stop it and how to tell if a child is abusing drugs of any kind. He has asked for parents to take charge of their children and know as much about what their children are doing as possible.
“Parents need to be more involved,” Champion said.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?...ryID=13280&on=0 (http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=909&NewsID=795348&CategoryID=13280&on=0)
Parents are being warned by Dublin Police about a new drug trend hitting kids as early as middle school.
According to Dublin Police Cpl. James Champion, a new trend for children is to use over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications to “get high.”
“A lot of parents hear kids talking about Skittles and think they’re talking about candy,” said Champion. “They’re not talking about candy.”
Actually the children are using a slang term “Skittle” or “Skittling” that refers to the use of a cough and cold medicine called Coricidin HBP. The medicine resembles the candy and therefore the name. The children are actually trying to get enough of the Dextromethon, also known as DXM, a drug used to replace codeine in the Coricidin and other cold medications to get them high. Other street names may refer to “doing Triple Cs,” meaning Coricidan Cough and Cold.
Champion said a 24-box of the Coricidan can be purchased for around $5.29 - a small amount of money for a child to get from an unsuspecting parent.
“Thirteen to 16-year-olds are really abusing them,” he said, adding this past weekend an 18-year-old was stopped who had hard liquor and beer in his vehicle. Yet, he was not drinking, but failed the field sobriety test. It turns out the youth had taken the over-the-counter medication and was arrested and charged with driving under the Influence of drugs.
He said the kids want to argue that using the over the counter medications can’t get a person charged with DUI, but it can because it hampers the driving ability.
“It’s just as deadly as driving under the influence of alcohol,” he said. “It’s a big problem all over the country. We want parents to be aware if their child is driving he will be charged with DUI — drugs.”
The average child using the OTC will take between 16 and 24 pills at one time.
“Some go as high as 50 pills if they’ve been doing it a long time,” said Champion.
According to a Web site explaining the use of the drugs and its side effects, DXM was added to cough medicine as a replacement for Codeine phosphate because of its lack of addiction potential and sedative side-effects. The effects of DXM are described as having a buoyant, vaguely psychedelic effect similar to a mixture of alcohol, opiates and marijuana. With higher doses, intense euphoria and vivid imagination may occur as bizarre feelings of dissociation increase. With very high doses, profound alterations in consciousness have been noted, and users often report out of body experiences or temporary psychosis. DXM can cause psychological addiction, and at the high doses needed for recreational use it has the side effects of a blotchy skin rash, sweating, dilated pupils, difficulty urinating, increased urination frequency, explosive diarrhea, fever, tachycardia, high blood pressure, loss of appetite, shakiness, seizures, insomnia, and possible coma and death. In addition, there is often vomiting, though this is not caused by the DXM itself. The vomiting and nausea usually occur because of the other chemicals in the medicine, most commonly being Guaifenesin. These other ingredients create a risk of overdose. Deaths have been reported, the Web site shows. There are many web sites that explain the drugs and their recreational uses. In fact, one news article claims many of the children are learning to use the drugs from the Internet.
“This can cause death,” said Champion. Overdoses on the drug have occurred in Laurens County already. Champion said parents should be able to tell if a child is using the medication. They should notice a loss of muscle control and slurred speech. But, he warns the effects only last about six hours. Theoretically, a child could use the medicine early in the evening and have the effects of the use gone by the time they were picked up hours later.
In fact, this past weekend Champion was talking with a medical professional at a local teen hangout and the medical professional pointed out a child who was showing signs of abusing medication.
Champion said because so many parents drop their young kids off at various locations and leave them, those kids are wandering outside the locations and going other places.
He advised parents to take a trip back to the location where they drop off their young children some time later, before the pickup time to look for their child.
“They’re there when they’re dropped off and there when they’re picked up... Where are they going?,” said Champion of the questions parents should ask themselves.
He said even those parents who ride by and see their child’s vehicle at various locations shouldn’t take that as proof their child is inside.
“Their car is there, but they’re not there,” he said, adding the kids often leave locations in groups. He has seen 12 and 13-year-olds smoking in parking lots and behind other buildings. Champion said he stopped one child who was smoking at 14 and was told the child’s parents were aware that he smoked.
“What can we do,” he said, of the lack of concern shown by some parents, or the fact that parents trust their children and then later find out they’ve been led astray by others.
In recent weeks reports have been filed and arrests made by other Dublin Police Officers due to other drugs found on young teens who were in the company of older teens, who are either high school dropouts or those old enough to be out of school who lurk in the alleys and parking lots around teen hangouts.
“One parent came down to check on his kids,” said Champion, adding that while that dad’s children were behaving inside, the dad saw plenty. “He saw what other kids are doing.”
Champion said he just wants parents to be aware that their children may seem to be in a safe environment, but no one can control when or if the kids leave and what they do while they’re gone.
He will gladly speak to any civic, parent or school or other organization that is interested in learning about drug abuse, how to help stop it and how to tell if a child is abusing drugs of any kind. He has asked for parents to take charge of their children and know as much about what their children are doing as possible.
“Parents need to be more involved,” Champion said.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?...ryID=13280&on=0 (http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=909&NewsID=795348&CategoryID=13280&on=0)