PeoplesMind
01-29-2004, 08:02 PM
[Note : Due to the fact there are 4 stories within the last 24hours, i have cropped out much of these articles. Please click the links below to read the full stories. -PeoplesMind/Nitin]
A screening tonight will show student-made short films (DXM Film)
http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART...9/4018773fbb0e7 (http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/29/4018773fbb0e7)
Use of cough medicine to get high rising among teens
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_nati...2614028,00.html (http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_national/article/0,1891,TRN_5703_2614028,00.html)
Warning label :Teens find a dangerous, cheap high in over-the-counter cough medicine
http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/st...p-9110696c.html (http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/8179394p-9110696c.html)
Medicine chest new drug danger?
http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_sto...p?intID=3801522 (http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3801522)
-----
A screening tonight will show student-made short films (DXM Film)
The OU film and video studies program will have a free screening of short films made by OU students at 6 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium.
The films will include a series of nine shorts selected by members of the film faculty that will later be screened at the Clermont International Film Festival in France.
The short films include a docu-drama about cleaning out a van, an imaginative prison-break story shot in black and white and a serious docu-drama about drug addition.
Jonathan Payne, film and video studies senior, wrote, directed, shot and edited the 17-minute drug-addiction film titled “DXM.”
“One of the greatest things for an artist is getting your stuff seen by other people,” Payne said.
READ : http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART...9/4018773fbb0e7 (http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/29/4018773fbb0e7)
-----
Use of cough medicine to get high rising among teens
The first time Myles did "skittles" was at high school - and all the teachers were giving him strange looks. The curly-haired sophomore couldn't control his forehead, couldn't put his eyebrows down.
His hands were quivering. He couldn't walk straight.
Scary, this being his first time, and this was not expected. A friend told him it would be like smoking a joint. But cough medicine - especially these Coricidin HBP pills, called "skittles" on the street - was "way more intense."
At a party that night, Myles played a punching game. He probably won, because he couldn't feel a thing, and he woke up later with bashed-up hands.
Not feeling anything is a good feeling, says Myles, now 17. But take it from him: "I actually don't recommend taking the whole package."
The use of cough medicine to get high is rising among teenagers nationwide, according to poison-control centers.
The hallucination-inducing ingredient is the cough-suppressant dextromethorphan (DXM). It's found in many over-the-counter medicines, from Robitussin DM to DayQuil, which are safe at the recommended dosage. Often, the medications contain other drugs harmful in the large quantities necessary to get the DXM fix.
In particular vogue are the red pills of Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold.
Calls about teenagers misusing DXM doubled nationwide from 2000 to 2003, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, but the 3,271 cases of 2003 represent a tiny fraction of some 2.3 million total calls.
But a few DXM-related deaths reported around the country and the upswing in popularity has caused doctors, educators and industry to take note.
This month, Walgreens nationwide began limiting the sale of Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold to three packages per person, and some stores now guard it behind the counter instead of putting it on the shelf. The maker of Coricidin HBP, New Jersey-based Schering-Plough, worked with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America to develop an online resource at www.drugfreeamerica.org/dxm
Despite those efforts, Web sites aimed at abusers of the medication offer tips on what kind and how much cough medicine to down, things to do while high, how to distill DXM powder from medication and how to buy the powder in bulk.
But those finer points aside, much of the appeal, say teenagers, is that it's cheap and easily available - at the drugstore or at home in the medicine cabinet.
One of the biggest dangers of chugging syrup and popping cold tablets comes from the active ingredients other than DXM, says Steve Offerman, attending emergency physician at the University of California-Davis Medical Center.
In high doses, the antihistamine in Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, for example, causes the heart to speed and symptoms of poor coordination on top of DXM's effects. In large enough quantities, it could even lead to a coma. Other preparations of Coricidin HBP and other cough medicines include acetaminophen, or Tylenol, which can ruin the liver in whopping doses.
Some cough medications, when taken to get high, could cause heart attacks among people with a family history of cardiac problems or seizures among people susceptible to attacks, says Judith Alsop, director of the Sacramento division of the California Poison Control System.
The heavy sedation of high doses could cause breathing problems or lead people to damage their body by lying out in the cold, Offerman says.
READ : http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_nati...2614028,00.html (http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_national/article/0,1891,TRN_5703_2614028,00.html)
-----
Warning label :Teens find a dangerous, cheap high in over-the-counter cough medicine
[See above.]
Slang terms:
DXM,
Dex,
Skittles,
Red Devils,
Triple C,
Robo
A sampling of medications with DXM:
Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, Robitussin DM, NyQuil, DayQuil, Tylenol Cold, Dimetapp Cold & Congestion Caplets, Sudafed Cold & Cough
Other ingredients to watch out for in cough medicine:
Chlorpheniramine: an antihistamine, which in high doses can cause increased heart rate, dilated pupils, uncoordination and lethargy, and even lead to seizures or a coma
Acetaminophen: pain reliever otherwise known as Tylenol, which in high doses can cause permanent liver damage
Pseudoephedrine: a decongestant which in high doses can cause increased heart rate and blood pressure, nervousness, agitation, irregular heartbeats and seizures
Street drugs similar to DXM:
PCP, Ketamine ("Special K")
Phone numbers for help:
California Poison Control System: (800) 876-4766
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Referral Helpline: (800) 662-4357 (HELP)
Sutter Center for Psychiatry Call Center: (916) 386-3077
Possible symptoms and side effects:
* Hallucinations
* Slurred speech, poor coordination and inability to move
* Drowsiness, sedation
* Dizziness, confusion, distorted perceptions
* Nausea, vomiting
* Rapid heart rate, dilated pupils
* Can become agitated, violent or psychotic
* Can become more susceptible to seizures, heart problems
* Death is possible, but rare
* Not addictive
READ : http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/st...p-9110696c.html (http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/8179394p-9110696c.html)
-----
Medicine chest new drug danger?
The newest drug threat for teens lurks in their homes - not on shady Chicago street corners.
Bathroom medicine cabinets full of cough syrups, cold tablets, asthma pills and diet drugs taken in large doses offer legal alternatives to LSD and speed.
Household cleaners, glues and paints offer teens sensations akin to being drunk after inhaling the fumes.
They're gravitating to the legal chemicals because they are cheaper and easier to get than marijuana and alcohol and don't show up on drug screenings. But they come with a different kind of price tag: permanent brain and organ damage or death.
They can't assume every can of hairspray or cold pill will be misused. Pharmacists say they try to keep minimal amounts of potentially misused nonprescription drugs on hand but won't lock them away from customers who really need them.
"We had a problem with that (Coricidin) HBP for a while, but we cut back on how much we carry and word got around," said Bill Anderson, owner of Oswald's Pharmacy in Naperville.
"The sad thing is it doesn't matter what the product is, someone will crush it or burn it or stick it in their ear," he said. "They will find a way to get high off it. You try and stay ahead of the curve."
Health officials advise parents to watch for the typical signs of drug abuse - change of interests and behaviors - and take teens in to get tested by a physician if they can't find any identifiable drugs around the house. The drug that could kill their children might be right under their noses.
DuPage County Coroner Richard Ballinger, a panelist at the forum, said every two years or so one or two teens die because they inhaled everyday household chemicals to get high.
Such deaths come in cycles as a new crop of young teens forget about the dangers. Health officials say a recent increase in use might signal a new wave of deaths.
Over-the-counter drug use, which became trendy during the past five years, has yet to claim a DuPage teen, but Ballinger said some of the overdoses could turn deadly.
"I know it's going on out there," he said.
Teens look for drugs containing dextromethorphan, a hallucinogenic ingredient found in cough and cold medicines or ephedra or ephadrine, a stimulant found in asthma medicine or energy or diet supplements.
Taken in the wrong doses, nonprescription drugs can cause heart attacks and strokes, especially when used in combination with exercise, alcohol or other stimulants like caffeine.
Local hospitals don't have readily accessible records of emergency room admissions for over-the-counter drug abuse, but teachers, health officials and police can recount near deaths they have seen.
"I think it is something that any school would say is there," said Jackie Forst, a nurse at Glenbard North High School. "I think we all think of things being very innocent or benign and we can't do that anymore. Kids are very creative."
Health officials blame the Internet for the rise of benign-looking gateway drugs. Web sites abound telling teens how to triple or quadruple up on legal medications to get high. Often the dosage gets distorted when it's passed on by word of mouth in school hallways.
That's what happened when two teens took 20 tablets each of Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold tablets called "Triple C's", and landed in the emergency room.
"The one would have died," said John Flannery, a licensed counselor at GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights.
Dealing with addicted adolescents and their families, Flannery has seen teens just as addicted to everyday products as to heroin. Over-the-counter drug users fall into two camps: heavy drug users looking to outsmart drug screenings and new users looking for a cheap thrill that they think is less dangerous.
READ : http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_sto...p?intID=3801522 (http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3801522)
A screening tonight will show student-made short films (DXM Film)
http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART...9/4018773fbb0e7 (http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/29/4018773fbb0e7)
Use of cough medicine to get high rising among teens
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_nati...2614028,00.html (http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_national/article/0,1891,TRN_5703_2614028,00.html)
Warning label :Teens find a dangerous, cheap high in over-the-counter cough medicine
http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/st...p-9110696c.html (http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/8179394p-9110696c.html)
Medicine chest new drug danger?
http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_sto...p?intID=3801522 (http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3801522)
-----
A screening tonight will show student-made short films (DXM Film)
The OU film and video studies program will have a free screening of short films made by OU students at 6 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium.
The films will include a series of nine shorts selected by members of the film faculty that will later be screened at the Clermont International Film Festival in France.
The short films include a docu-drama about cleaning out a van, an imaginative prison-break story shot in black and white and a serious docu-drama about drug addition.
Jonathan Payne, film and video studies senior, wrote, directed, shot and edited the 17-minute drug-addiction film titled “DXM.”
“One of the greatest things for an artist is getting your stuff seen by other people,” Payne said.
READ : http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART...9/4018773fbb0e7 (http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/29/4018773fbb0e7)
-----
Use of cough medicine to get high rising among teens
The first time Myles did "skittles" was at high school - and all the teachers were giving him strange looks. The curly-haired sophomore couldn't control his forehead, couldn't put his eyebrows down.
His hands were quivering. He couldn't walk straight.
Scary, this being his first time, and this was not expected. A friend told him it would be like smoking a joint. But cough medicine - especially these Coricidin HBP pills, called "skittles" on the street - was "way more intense."
At a party that night, Myles played a punching game. He probably won, because he couldn't feel a thing, and he woke up later with bashed-up hands.
Not feeling anything is a good feeling, says Myles, now 17. But take it from him: "I actually don't recommend taking the whole package."
The use of cough medicine to get high is rising among teenagers nationwide, according to poison-control centers.
The hallucination-inducing ingredient is the cough-suppressant dextromethorphan (DXM). It's found in many over-the-counter medicines, from Robitussin DM to DayQuil, which are safe at the recommended dosage. Often, the medications contain other drugs harmful in the large quantities necessary to get the DXM fix.
In particular vogue are the red pills of Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold.
Calls about teenagers misusing DXM doubled nationwide from 2000 to 2003, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, but the 3,271 cases of 2003 represent a tiny fraction of some 2.3 million total calls.
But a few DXM-related deaths reported around the country and the upswing in popularity has caused doctors, educators and industry to take note.
This month, Walgreens nationwide began limiting the sale of Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold to three packages per person, and some stores now guard it behind the counter instead of putting it on the shelf. The maker of Coricidin HBP, New Jersey-based Schering-Plough, worked with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America to develop an online resource at www.drugfreeamerica.org/dxm
Despite those efforts, Web sites aimed at abusers of the medication offer tips on what kind and how much cough medicine to down, things to do while high, how to distill DXM powder from medication and how to buy the powder in bulk.
But those finer points aside, much of the appeal, say teenagers, is that it's cheap and easily available - at the drugstore or at home in the medicine cabinet.
One of the biggest dangers of chugging syrup and popping cold tablets comes from the active ingredients other than DXM, says Steve Offerman, attending emergency physician at the University of California-Davis Medical Center.
In high doses, the antihistamine in Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, for example, causes the heart to speed and symptoms of poor coordination on top of DXM's effects. In large enough quantities, it could even lead to a coma. Other preparations of Coricidin HBP and other cough medicines include acetaminophen, or Tylenol, which can ruin the liver in whopping doses.
Some cough medications, when taken to get high, could cause heart attacks among people with a family history of cardiac problems or seizures among people susceptible to attacks, says Judith Alsop, director of the Sacramento division of the California Poison Control System.
The heavy sedation of high doses could cause breathing problems or lead people to damage their body by lying out in the cold, Offerman says.
READ : http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_nati...2614028,00.html (http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_national/article/0,1891,TRN_5703_2614028,00.html)
-----
Warning label :Teens find a dangerous, cheap high in over-the-counter cough medicine
[See above.]
Slang terms:
DXM,
Dex,
Skittles,
Red Devils,
Triple C,
Robo
A sampling of medications with DXM:
Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, Robitussin DM, NyQuil, DayQuil, Tylenol Cold, Dimetapp Cold & Congestion Caplets, Sudafed Cold & Cough
Other ingredients to watch out for in cough medicine:
Chlorpheniramine: an antihistamine, which in high doses can cause increased heart rate, dilated pupils, uncoordination and lethargy, and even lead to seizures or a coma
Acetaminophen: pain reliever otherwise known as Tylenol, which in high doses can cause permanent liver damage
Pseudoephedrine: a decongestant which in high doses can cause increased heart rate and blood pressure, nervousness, agitation, irregular heartbeats and seizures
Street drugs similar to DXM:
PCP, Ketamine ("Special K")
Phone numbers for help:
California Poison Control System: (800) 876-4766
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Referral Helpline: (800) 662-4357 (HELP)
Sutter Center for Psychiatry Call Center: (916) 386-3077
Possible symptoms and side effects:
* Hallucinations
* Slurred speech, poor coordination and inability to move
* Drowsiness, sedation
* Dizziness, confusion, distorted perceptions
* Nausea, vomiting
* Rapid heart rate, dilated pupils
* Can become agitated, violent or psychotic
* Can become more susceptible to seizures, heart problems
* Death is possible, but rare
* Not addictive
READ : http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/st...p-9110696c.html (http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/8179394p-9110696c.html)
-----
Medicine chest new drug danger?
The newest drug threat for teens lurks in their homes - not on shady Chicago street corners.
Bathroom medicine cabinets full of cough syrups, cold tablets, asthma pills and diet drugs taken in large doses offer legal alternatives to LSD and speed.
Household cleaners, glues and paints offer teens sensations akin to being drunk after inhaling the fumes.
They're gravitating to the legal chemicals because they are cheaper and easier to get than marijuana and alcohol and don't show up on drug screenings. But they come with a different kind of price tag: permanent brain and organ damage or death.
They can't assume every can of hairspray or cold pill will be misused. Pharmacists say they try to keep minimal amounts of potentially misused nonprescription drugs on hand but won't lock them away from customers who really need them.
"We had a problem with that (Coricidin) HBP for a while, but we cut back on how much we carry and word got around," said Bill Anderson, owner of Oswald's Pharmacy in Naperville.
"The sad thing is it doesn't matter what the product is, someone will crush it or burn it or stick it in their ear," he said. "They will find a way to get high off it. You try and stay ahead of the curve."
Health officials advise parents to watch for the typical signs of drug abuse - change of interests and behaviors - and take teens in to get tested by a physician if they can't find any identifiable drugs around the house. The drug that could kill their children might be right under their noses.
DuPage County Coroner Richard Ballinger, a panelist at the forum, said every two years or so one or two teens die because they inhaled everyday household chemicals to get high.
Such deaths come in cycles as a new crop of young teens forget about the dangers. Health officials say a recent increase in use might signal a new wave of deaths.
Over-the-counter drug use, which became trendy during the past five years, has yet to claim a DuPage teen, but Ballinger said some of the overdoses could turn deadly.
"I know it's going on out there," he said.
Teens look for drugs containing dextromethorphan, a hallucinogenic ingredient found in cough and cold medicines or ephedra or ephadrine, a stimulant found in asthma medicine or energy or diet supplements.
Taken in the wrong doses, nonprescription drugs can cause heart attacks and strokes, especially when used in combination with exercise, alcohol or other stimulants like caffeine.
Local hospitals don't have readily accessible records of emergency room admissions for over-the-counter drug abuse, but teachers, health officials and police can recount near deaths they have seen.
"I think it is something that any school would say is there," said Jackie Forst, a nurse at Glenbard North High School. "I think we all think of things being very innocent or benign and we can't do that anymore. Kids are very creative."
Health officials blame the Internet for the rise of benign-looking gateway drugs. Web sites abound telling teens how to triple or quadruple up on legal medications to get high. Often the dosage gets distorted when it's passed on by word of mouth in school hallways.
That's what happened when two teens took 20 tablets each of Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold tablets called "Triple C's", and landed in the emergency room.
"The one would have died," said John Flannery, a licensed counselor at GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights.
Dealing with addicted adolescents and their families, Flannery has seen teens just as addicted to everyday products as to heroin. Over-the-counter drug users fall into two camps: heavy drug users looking to outsmart drug screenings and new users looking for a cheap thrill that they think is less dangerous.
READ : http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_sto...p?intID=3801522 (http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3801522)