Mom Wages War on CCCs

Daughter's overdose on cold medicine sparks mother's effort to pull drug

MARENGO – Tina Holley’s teenage daughter nearly died this week after overdosing on potent cold medication.

Now Holley wants to make sure that other teenagers in her town won’t be able to get their hands on Coricidin Cough and Cold tablets, also known as “Triple C,” the over-the-counter medication that nearly claimed her daughter’s life and has become a nationwide concern among parents.

Holley, 39, said that although her daughter, whom she asked not be identified in the story, has a history of drug use and mental-health problems, she believes that the easy accessibility of Triple C was part of the reason why the girl allegedly shoplifted the tablets from the shelf of a local grocery store Tuesday and consumed 14 of them.

“[Children] are doing this because there’s an easy way to get them,” Holley said. “They can’t get to marijuana, they can’t get to cocaine – not easily and not without money.”

Triple C contains three times the DXM, or dextromethorphan, as regular cold pills.

DMX can cause hallucinations and altered perception of time and distance that can last up to eight hours if abused, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The small red tablets, street named “skittles”, don’t require a prescription and are shelved alongside common cold medications in many stores.

The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported that cases of Triple C’s recreational use gained steam in the late 1990s and earlier this decade. Death from overdoses have occurred.

Holley, meanwhile, said she wanted local stores selling the product to take the medicine off the shelf and relocate it behind the pharmacy counter.

Marengo High School Principal Eric Vance said he planned to write a letter to area stores making the same request. Vance said he was not aware of any other students who had been abusing Triple C but said one overdose was sufficient justification to address the issue.

“I don’t see this as an epidemic, but rather one case is enough of a problem,” Vance said. “I thought that maybe I’d inform them, so that maybe they could do something as a precaution.”

Marisa Bluestone, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the company required that the medication be put behind pharmacy counters in its stores about three years ago. She said the discount-store chain actually required that all medications containing DXM be restricted to minors and stored behind the pharmacy counter.

“We treat it like we would any age-restricted product, such as alcohol and tobacco,” Bluestone said. “We require them to show an ID to complete the sale.”

Holley said Friday that her daughter was in good spirits but remained hospitalized until she completely recovers from Tuesday’s event and past behavioral problems that plague her. In the meantime, she’s willing to do what she can to persuade pharmacists and even lawmakers to restrict teens’ access to Triple C tablets.

“If we all got together with other communities, we could make a statement and convince lawmakers to regulate this drug,” Holley said. “People don’t realize how dangerous it is, and if they placed it behind the counter, it could detour [teens] from stealing it.”

What is ‘Triple C’?

Coricidin Cough and Cold, also known as Triple C, is an over-the-counter antihistamine medication that contains three times the amount of DXM, or dextromethorphan, as regular cold medications. When abused, DXM can produce hallucinations.


http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2007/05/1...26150143184.txt

[krepta]

yes mom, prohibition has a strong history of eliminating drug use

maybe if we make "avoidance of personal responsibility" illegal, morons won't be able to partake?

[Unnamed]

Holley, 39, said that although her daughter, whom she asked not be identified in the story, has a history of drug use and mental-health problems, she believes that the easy accessibility of Triple C was part of the reason why the girl allegedly shoplifted the tablets from the shelf of a local grocery store Tuesday and consumed 14 of them.

Yep, people do DXM because they can't get pot, and once dxm is gone they'll just sit quietly and realize that the parents were right, not go searching for computer duster...

Oh, D8, we can't expect a law to pass our leaders cannot even follow.

[Kang]

yes mom, prohibition has a strong history of eliminating drug use

Yeah I know, alcohol prohibition was truly the end of alcohol abuse in the US, and Marijuana is almost never used by anyone anymore!

Why are kids still taking those triple C's?

[newfie22]

Triple C's prohibition parents - skapegoating once again...........blame it on a drug.

a drug that your government created BTW.

[Criptin]

Next their gonna require you to be 18 to buy computer duster.

Beware!

[Starman]

I know someone who was almost killed in a car accident. Deaths from car accidents have occured. This is not something we can ignore. I'm gonna get together with other communities to make cars illegal.

[janks]

i would like to know what the body mass of this girl is.. 14 ccc's doesn't seem like a fatal dose.

[jaytown]

“If we all got together with other communities, we could make a statement and convince lawmakers to regulate this drug,”

I don't think the pharmicutical companys and their lobbies are going to let that happen. After all, they MUST please their stockholders. Anything that could cut their sales by more that a few points will cause the pharm companys to be on the blitz attack mode.

You can't fight any industry unless a PRODUCT can cause as much deaths as tobacco products. Where's the dxm-only deaths??????????
Maybe restrict ccc's, MAYBEEE ???

Also

“If we all got together with other communities, we could make a statement and convince lawmakers to regulate this drug,”

That's just a parents wishfull thinking :P

[road_to_awe]

“If we all got together with other communities, we could make a statement and convince lawmakers to regulate this drug,”

Damn woman, regulate your kid first.