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More Kids Getting High on Cough Syrup
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| Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 | Kristen DiPaolo | CWK Producer |
“The average kid who abuses dex [dextromethorphan] takes between 240 and 360 milligrams. That’s a couple of bottles [of cough syrup] at least.”
– Heather Hayes, M.Ed., L.P.C., Addiction Counselor
It’s the latest trend: kids are drinking cough syrup to get high.
“I’ve seen people drink like whole bottles and like two, three bottles at a time,” says 16-year-old Andrew Lawrence.
“You could put it in drinks,” explains 17-year-old Stephanie Gregos, “you could take it straight from the bottle.”
According to new research, the number of kids abusing cold medicine has jumped ten-fold since the mid-nineties.
Why? One answer… it’s cheap and legal to buy.
“It’s pretty common I guess,” says 17-year-old Gabrielle Weber, “because you can get access to it. It’s right there, just go in the store and buy it.”
“It’s not going to go down on their permanent record that they took too much cough medicine, you know?” says 18-year-old Kristina Cherry.
And, kids say, cough medicine is easy to hide from their parents.
“Their parents tend to overlook it because, ‘Oh, okay, they might just have a cold,” explains Weber, “they pretend sick.”
The active drug in some cough medicine is dextromethorphan, or dex; which is meant to be taken two teaspoons at a time.
“The average kid who abuses dex takes between 240 and 360 milligrams,” explains addiction counselor Heather Hayes. “That’s a couple of bottles at least.”
She says at these high doses, dex can cause coma, seizures, and even brain damage.
“People years later are finding that they have difficulty understanding new situations or learning,” says Hayes. “They are having difficulty with memory.”
And, she says, dextromethorphan may cause severe psychiatric disorders.
“Some kids take this and become psychotic and delirious and don’t come back,” says Hayes. “So if you’ve got a kid that already has some underlying psychiatric issues and they abuse dex, they may go into psychosis.”
Over-the-counter medication may seem safe - but even some kids will tell you, mega-dosing is dangerous.
“If you are doubling it and tripling it,” says 16-year-old Andrew Lawrence, “there’s usually some type of side effects that will occur…like death.”
Tips for Parents
- Lock-up cough syrup and other over-the-counter medication. (Heather Hayes, M.Ed., L.P.C., Addiction Counselor)
- Kids may assume that dextromethorphan is safe because it is sold in stores. Educate your child on the dangers of taking cough syrup in large doses. Side effects may include rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, agitation, loss of muscle control and a loss of contact with reality. (University of California, San Francisco)
- If you catch your child with cough syrup or other over-the-counter medications, take this as a serious warning sign of drug abuse. (Heather Hayes, M.Ed., L.P.C., Addiction Counselor)
- Realize some kids obtain dextromethorphan on the Internet. Do not give your child a credit card to order merchandise online without your supervision. (Heather Hayes, M.Ed., L.P.C., Addiction Counselor)
References
- Dextromethorphan Abuse in Adolescents, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Dec. 2006
- School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco
- Heather Hayes, M.Ed., L.P.C., Addiction Counselor
