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04-19-2007, 12:23 AM
The Pilot-Independent
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 03:26:33 PM
I had a conversation with one of our community members who said, "My family seems to be going through a lot of cough syrup. Should I be concerned?" I, of course, gave my standard response of "Well, it depends."
After discussing the obvious, such as how many people in the family have colds, how much cough syrup they have been going through, etc., we got to the real question, "Can my child be using cough syrup to get high?"
The answer to that question is, yes. There is a real trend toward kids using legal products such as cough medicine to get high. Many cough medicines have an ingredient called Dextromethorphan or DXM. When used according to medicine label instructions, DXM has been proven safe and effective in temporarily relieving common cold and flu symptoms (or at least that's what my bottle of DayQuil says). However, when taken at levels that far exceed recommended doses, DXM can cause hallucinations ranging from mild distortions of color and sound, to out-of-body experiences and loss of motor control.
Some things to look for if you think someone has taken a lot of DXM are confusion, dizziness, double or blurred vision, slurred speech, impaired physical coordination, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, rapid heart beat, drowsiness, numbness in fingers or toes and disorientation. If you notice these signs, and believe the person has taken a large amount of DXM, you should seek immediate medical assistance.
When a DXM overdose occurs, it affects the central nervous system with the risk of serious damage and even death. If you are concerned about someone abusing cough and cold medicine here are some important slang words to pay special attention to: Triple C — a term for Coricidin Cough and Cold over the counter medicine; Tussin — a slang word for Robitussin cough medicine; Robo Tripping — a term for getting high on DXM; Skittling — a slang word referring to the abuse of cough and cold medicines; and Plateau or Third Plateau — terms some DXM abusers use to refer to different levels of distortion (high) they can achieve.
To know if a particular cough and cold medicine contains DXM, look for "Dextromethorphan" in the active ingredient section on the label.
http://www.walkermn.com/placed/index.php?s...story_id=231851 (http://www.walkermn.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=7&story_id=231851)
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 03:26:33 PM
I had a conversation with one of our community members who said, "My family seems to be going through a lot of cough syrup. Should I be concerned?" I, of course, gave my standard response of "Well, it depends."
After discussing the obvious, such as how many people in the family have colds, how much cough syrup they have been going through, etc., we got to the real question, "Can my child be using cough syrup to get high?"
The answer to that question is, yes. There is a real trend toward kids using legal products such as cough medicine to get high. Many cough medicines have an ingredient called Dextromethorphan or DXM. When used according to medicine label instructions, DXM has been proven safe and effective in temporarily relieving common cold and flu symptoms (or at least that's what my bottle of DayQuil says). However, when taken at levels that far exceed recommended doses, DXM can cause hallucinations ranging from mild distortions of color and sound, to out-of-body experiences and loss of motor control.
Some things to look for if you think someone has taken a lot of DXM are confusion, dizziness, double or blurred vision, slurred speech, impaired physical coordination, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, rapid heart beat, drowsiness, numbness in fingers or toes and disorientation. If you notice these signs, and believe the person has taken a large amount of DXM, you should seek immediate medical assistance.
When a DXM overdose occurs, it affects the central nervous system with the risk of serious damage and even death. If you are concerned about someone abusing cough and cold medicine here are some important slang words to pay special attention to: Triple C — a term for Coricidin Cough and Cold over the counter medicine; Tussin — a slang word for Robitussin cough medicine; Robo Tripping — a term for getting high on DXM; Skittling — a slang word referring to the abuse of cough and cold medicines; and Plateau or Third Plateau — terms some DXM abusers use to refer to different levels of distortion (high) they can achieve.
To know if a particular cough and cold medicine contains DXM, look for "Dextromethorphan" in the active ingredient section on the label.
http://www.walkermn.com/placed/index.php?s...story_id=231851 (http://www.walkermn.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=7&story_id=231851)