drdĒv
04-11-2007, 07:16 PM
Wednesday April 11, 2007
MELVILLE, N.Y. -- A 15-year-old girl was rushed to a Suffolk County emergency room a few 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 County, 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.
This trend has drawn the attention of Suffolk County 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 legislator Lynne Nowick, 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.
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 supports the age restriction. California tried to enact limits but failed, 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 reintroduced a bill that would allow retailers to sell one cold remedy containing dextromethorphan at a time to anyone younger than 18.
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/200704...d-remedy-highs/ (http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007041124/Bill-would-thwart-cold-remedy-highs/)
MELVILLE, N.Y. -- A 15-year-old girl was rushed to a Suffolk County emergency room a few 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 County, 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.
This trend has drawn the attention of Suffolk County 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 legislator Lynne Nowick, 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.
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 supports the age restriction. California tried to enact limits but failed, 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 reintroduced a bill that would allow retailers to sell one cold remedy containing dextromethorphan at a time to anyone younger than 18.
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/200704...d-remedy-highs/ (http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007041124/Bill-would-thwart-cold-remedy-highs/)