PeoplesMind
10-03-2003, 08:19 PM
BELLINGHAM -- Two teens looking for a "buzz" were hospitalized in Rhode Island yesterday after popping large amounts of an over-the-counter cold medicine pill while at school, police said.
The two girls, both 15, were taken to the nurse's office at the P.J. Primavera Educational Center around 10:15 a.m. after ingesting Coricidin Cough and Cold Medicine.
Police did not disclose the names of the girls since they are juveniles. Lt. Kevin Ranieri said their conditions did not appear to be life threatening. They were taken to Woonsocket's Landmark Medical Center, he said.
When officers responded to the school the two girls were awake and responsive in the nurse's office, Ranieri said. The teens told police they bought three boxes containing eight pills each of Coricidin and shared them equally.
The two took about eight to 11 pills each, Ranieri said.
Asked why, one of the girls said they "wanted a buzz," according to police.
Michael Rooney, director at the Primavera Center, an alternative school that enrolls high school kids from the area, could not be reached for comment.
The cold medicine, known as "triple C," contains the drug dextromethorphan or DXM. When taken in large amounts the effect can be comparable to LSD where users may feel like they are floating on air. DXM is a also found in Robitussin products.
A number of teens were nabbed in schools last winter carrying large amounts of cold medicines containing DXM. Some of them were found high in class.
Last February four students at Framingham High School were arrested on drug charges, one of whom had two boxes of Coricidin.
Two weeks earlier the parent of seventh-grader at Blackstone-Millville Regional Junior/High School told school officials his daughter took multiple doses of Coricidin.
Principal Mary Shimkus then launched an investigation with Blackstone Police that caught seven more students either in possession or under the influence of the over-the-counter drug.
Taking the drug may seem harmless to teens, but last year alone the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported 14 deaths related to cold medicine abuse.
READ STORY : http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/local...lls10022003.htm (http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/local_regional/bell_pills10022003.htm)
The two girls, both 15, were taken to the nurse's office at the P.J. Primavera Educational Center around 10:15 a.m. after ingesting Coricidin Cough and Cold Medicine.
Police did not disclose the names of the girls since they are juveniles. Lt. Kevin Ranieri said their conditions did not appear to be life threatening. They were taken to Woonsocket's Landmark Medical Center, he said.
When officers responded to the school the two girls were awake and responsive in the nurse's office, Ranieri said. The teens told police they bought three boxes containing eight pills each of Coricidin and shared them equally.
The two took about eight to 11 pills each, Ranieri said.
Asked why, one of the girls said they "wanted a buzz," according to police.
Michael Rooney, director at the Primavera Center, an alternative school that enrolls high school kids from the area, could not be reached for comment.
The cold medicine, known as "triple C," contains the drug dextromethorphan or DXM. When taken in large amounts the effect can be comparable to LSD where users may feel like they are floating on air. DXM is a also found in Robitussin products.
A number of teens were nabbed in schools last winter carrying large amounts of cold medicines containing DXM. Some of them were found high in class.
Last February four students at Framingham High School were arrested on drug charges, one of whom had two boxes of Coricidin.
Two weeks earlier the parent of seventh-grader at Blackstone-Millville Regional Junior/High School told school officials his daughter took multiple doses of Coricidin.
Principal Mary Shimkus then launched an investigation with Blackstone Police that caught seven more students either in possession or under the influence of the over-the-counter drug.
Taking the drug may seem harmless to teens, but last year alone the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported 14 deaths related to cold medicine abuse.
READ STORY : http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/local...lls10022003.htm (http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/local_regional/bell_pills10022003.htm)