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drdĒv€
04-07-2007, 11:16 PM
Suffolk looks to control cough medicine for minors
April 7, 2007, 8:42 PM EDT

A 15-year-old girl was rushed to a Suffolk emergency room 10 days ago after trying to get high by swallowing 16 tablets of Coricidin, an over-the-counter cough and cold medicine.

Days earlier, a 17-year-old boy in Suffolk, seeking a similar euphoria, overdosed after drinking two 8-ounce bottles of cough syrup.

Nine Long Island teenagers were hospitalized last month after abusing over-the-counter cough medicines, according to a local health official. The medicines they ingested had one thing in common: dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant found in more than 100 cold remedies that can cause hallucinations when taken in large amounts.

Drug counselors and health officials report that teen abuse of products such as Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold -- nicknamed Triple-C, CCC and "skittles" -- and Robitussin DM is on the rise locally and across the nation.

"Kids are passing out in the classrooms. It's a really bad situation here on Long Island," said Michael Landon, a substance abuse counselor who treats teenagers at South Oaks Hospital in Amityville.

Taking legal action

This trend has drawn the attention of Suffolk lawmakers who recently introduced legislation that would ban the sale of over-the-counter medicines containing dextromethorphan to anyone 18 and younger.

"As parents, we are behind the times," said Legis. Lynne Nowick (R-St. James), the bill's lead sponsor. "The most important thing I hope to do is educate parents. If they see an abnormal amount of this medication, then they know there is a problem."

If passed, Nowick's bill would make Suffolk the first county in New York to impose such a ban and vault it to the forefront of a nationwide movement to restrict access of cough and cold remedies to minors. The measure is likely to pass because it has as co-sponsors 13 of the 18 county legislators. A public hearing on Nowick's bill is scheduled for April 24 when the full county legislature meets in Hauppauge.

Tom Hedrick, co-founder of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, applauded Suffolk's effort to make it harder for kids to get medicines that contain dextromethorphan, but he said that is not enough.

"It will be a false sense of security and it worries me greatly," said Hedrick, who prefers educating the public.

A study conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America estimated that 2.4 million teenagers -- roughly 1 in 10 -- got high using cough medicine in 2005. Seventy-six cases were reported of teens abusing dextromethorphan in Suffolk, Nassau and Westchester counties in 2006, nearly twice as many as in 2000, said Tom Caraccio, a toxicologist at the Long Island Regional Poison and Drug Information Center at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola.

At the moment, no laws in the United States restrict the sale of these remedies to minors, said Virginia Cox, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group that represents manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines and that supports the age restriction. California tried but failed such limits, and Illinois banned the sale or purchase of the pure form of dextromethorphan in 2003.

Proposals similar to Suffolk's are pending in Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Oklahoma, Cox said. Georgia introduced a bill on March 28, too late to be taken up this year, she said. And, last month State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) re-introduced a bill that would allow retailers to sell one cold remedy containing dextromethorphan at a time to anyone younger than 18.

Both Nowick and Skelos said they proposed legislation after they became aware of the abuse via media accounts.

Under Suffolk's proposal, businesses that don't comply would be fined $500 for the first offense and up to $750 for each subsequent offense.

Some retailers such as Rite Aid and Walgreens are already voluntarily restricting access by checking for proof of age from younger customers buying the medicine, according to spokeswomen for the companies.

Dextromethorphan, also known as DXM, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1958. In 2005, the FDA warned that abuse of dextromethorphan can cause brain damage, seizure, loss of consciousness, irregular heart beat and, in extreme cases, death.

Easy access

Dextromethorphan appeals to teenagers because it's inexpensive and easy to get, drug counselors said. And, because it's legal, the counselors say, teenagers believe it's safe. A Coricidin package of 24 tablets costs $6.99 at Walgreens.

Arlene Sanchez, Nassau's commissioner of mental health, chemical dependency and development disabilities, said social workers and counselors in schools are reporting an increase abuse of over-the-counter medication.

"Kids are bingeing on everything they can get their hands on. They take cough medication, over-the-counter drugs. The most popular right now is the cough medicine because it gives them an easier way to get high," Sanchez said.

Once or twice a week, Landon fields calls from school officials, parents and community-based groups seeking his advice and referrals.

"If they're doing Robitussin, or any over-the-counter medications, there is a very good chance they're doing Vicodin, heroin and heavier narcotics," he said.

Wayne Rothwell, a director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at South Oaks Hospital, said all it takes is a bottle of cough syrup or a package of Coricidin to get high, and the effect can be enhanced if used with alcohol.

"The kids said it makes them feel high. It gives them that sense of being intoxicated. It gives them a sense of euphoria and relaxation," Rothwell said.

The 15-year-old girl had trouble seeing and her pupils were dilated, said Caraccio of the poison control center.

The 17-year-old boy who drank two bottles of a store-brand cough syrup was sweating and his heart was beating "very fast," Caraccio said.

In a third case, a 16-year-old boy rushed to an emergency room in Nassau admitted he took Coricidin and Tylenol Cold & Flu. His pupils were dilated and he had trouble seeing.

All three kids were hooked up to cardiac machines that monitored their heart rates and were released after spending a day or two in the hospitals, Caraccio said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisla...y-top-headlines (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-licoug0408,0,1780002.story?coll=ny-top-headlines)

TheGreatDeceiver
04-07-2007, 11:24 PM
Nice to see natural selection is still in full force. What with how easy it is and how little time it takes to research your substance before you take it into your body, and we have people grabbing the first thing they hear about associated with DXM.

In all seriousness, though, it really depresses me to hear this. Not because I give a shit about the kids, but because it means more irresponsible use of DXM, and more flak to the DXM community.

Sad, really. People will never learn. :nono:

tOfOloco
04-08-2007, 05:49 PM
Sigh, these stupid little kids are going to ruin something great. How are they learning about it you wonder? FROM ALL THE PRESS ATTENTION. I swear man.. I'm an American.. but I'm not American.

nastyvicks
04-08-2007, 07:11 PM
If they're doing Robitussin, or any over-the-counter medications, there is a very good chance they're doing Vicodin, heroin and heavier narcotics

Am I the only one that takes offense to that? :flame: I'd like to know what brought the idiot to that conclusion.

Psychotic Break
04-08-2007, 09:20 PM
"If they're doing Robitussin, or any over-the-counter medications, there is a very good chance they're doing Vicodin, heroin and heavier narcotics," he said.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

That is pure bullshit. Seriously that ain't right. :nono:

Florez
04-08-2007, 09:37 PM
I live on Long Island, a county away from Suffolk, and this article is complete bullshit.

Jim Lahey
04-08-2007, 10:37 PM
I love how they say that anyone using dxm is most likely also doing heroin. :crazy:

ashesofman
04-09-2007, 12:31 AM
Coricidin comes in boxes of 16, not 24. I suppose those extra eight coricidin were added to the article for dramatic effect.

dextromancer
04-08-2008, 03:23 PM
i live on long island and chances are the kids are doing heroin.

Omega_Switch
04-08-2008, 11:52 PM
Originally posted by ashesofman@Apr 8 2007, 11:31 PM
Coricidin comes in boxes of 16, not 24. I suppose those extra eight coricidin were added to the article for dramatic effect.
But you'd have to be one of the addicts this articles speaks of to know the amount CCCs there are in a box. Plus, your member number gives alarming evidence to the fact that you're the devil. So, am I going to believe in one of the upstanding, moral citizens mentioned in this article, who take genuine interests in the protection of our beloved children, or a cough medicine junkie who is the devil? I think you know the answer to that one... I'll stick with the devil on this one. :sly:
But seriously, this intentional misinterpretation of DXM and its users is not going to stop anytime soon. I can pretty much guess exactly what is said in any one of these articles, since they are so predictable and base their assumptions off of the same bogus statistics and ignorant generalizations of those who use DXM recreationally.

Howard Beale
04-09-2008, 01:46 AM
Originally posted by drdĒv€@Apr 7 2007, 10:16 PM
"If they're doing Robitussin, or any over-the-counter medications, there is a very good chance <s>they're doing</s> they would be inclined to do Vicodin, heroin and heavier narcotics, if they only had the money and/or connections"
Fixed. :shake: