Parents: BEWARE
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:56 pm
I have had a pretty traumatic week, and want to share some info with you parents of teens, and young adults out there...
We discovered some red pills, marked CCC in our sons room, and did a quick net search, and discovered these pills are being abused by teens, to "trip out"...and its killing teens...I really didn't think I'd be dealing with drugs with my kids...their natutral father is an addict and alcoholic, and I thought that seeing him fall into the gutter over the years, would be pretty preventative to them...I was wrong. My son was given these pills by a girl at school, and took the oppurtunity while my husband and I were in Chi for his daughters graduation, to take these pills at school...luckily, it made him very sick, and he vomitted, his body rejected them, rather than overdose, or whatever may happen...He took 6 pills, many kids are taking even more at a time...its extremely dangerous, and deadly.
Its an over the counter cold and cough med, and can be legally purchased by youth here in our state.
I went to the school counselor, "hypotheically" told her the story, and she said it is running rampant in Jr. Highs locally, and acrosss the country.
How sad, how scary...how tragic...
I wanted to share this, in hopes of making parents, even unsuspecting parents, like myself, AWARE....
The following is an excerpt from an online article about this form of teen drug abuse.
[b][b]One major way teens are getting their DXM fixes is by taking "triple C" - Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold, which contains 30 mg of DXM in little red tablets. Users taking large volumes of triple C run additional health risks because triple C contains an antihistamine as well. The list of other ingredients - decongestants, expectorants, and pain relievers - contained in other Coricidin products and OTC cough and cold preparations compound the risks associated with DXM and could lead to a serious drug overdose.
In addition to Triple C, other street names for DXM include: Candy, C-C-C, Dex, DM, Drex, Red Devils, Robo, Rojo, Skittles, Tussin, Velvet, and Vitamin D. Users are sometimes called "syrup heads," and the act of abusing DXM is often called "dexing," "robotripping," or "robodosing" (because users chug Robitussin or another cough syrup to achieve their desired high).
What Happens When Teens Abuse DXM?
Although DXM can be safely taken in 15- to 30-milligram doses to effectively suppress a cough, users tend to consume as much as 360 milligrams or more. Taking mass quantities of products containing DXM can cause hallucinations, loss of motor control, and "out-of-body" (disassociative) sensations.
Other possible side effects of DXM abuse include: confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision, dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, headache, lethargy, numbness of fingers and toes, redness of face, dry and itchy skin, loss of consciousness, seizures, brain damage, and even death.
When consumed in large quantities, DXM can also cause hyperthermia, or high fever. This is a real concern for teens who take DXM while in a hot environment or while exerting themselves at a rave or dance club, where DXM is often sold and passed off as similar-looking drugs like PCP.
Being on the Lookout
If you suspect that your child may be abusing over-the-counter medicines or if your teen often attends raves or dance clubs where DXM can likely be found in abundance, it might be a good idea to:
Lock your medicine cabinet, or keep those OTC medicines that could potentially be abused in a less accessible place.
Avoid stockpiling OTC medicines. Having too many OTC medications at your teen's disposal could make abusing them more tempting.
Keep track of how much is in each bottle or container in your medicine cabinet.
Keep an eye out for not only traditional-looking cough and cold remedies in your teen's room, but also strange-looking tablets (DXM is often sold on the Internet and at raves in its pure form in various shapes and colors).
Look for possible warning signs of DXM abuse listed above.
Monitor your child's Internet usage. Be on the lookout for suspicious websites and emails that seem to be promoting the abuse of DXM or other drugs, both legal and illegal.
Above all, talk to your kids about drug abuse and explain that even though taking lots of a cough or cold medicine seems harmless, it's not. Whether it comes from inside the family medicine cabinet or the corner drugstore, when taken in large amounts dextromethorphan is still a drug that can be just as deadly as those sold by drug dealers on a seedy street corner. And even if you don't think your teen is doing it, chances are they know someone who is.
Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: February 2004[/b][/b]
We discovered some red pills, marked CCC in our sons room, and did a quick net search, and discovered these pills are being abused by teens, to "trip out"...and its killing teens...I really didn't think I'd be dealing with drugs with my kids...their natutral father is an addict and alcoholic, and I thought that seeing him fall into the gutter over the years, would be pretty preventative to them...I was wrong. My son was given these pills by a girl at school, and took the oppurtunity while my husband and I were in Chi for his daughters graduation, to take these pills at school...luckily, it made him very sick, and he vomitted, his body rejected them, rather than overdose, or whatever may happen...He took 6 pills, many kids are taking even more at a time...its extremely dangerous, and deadly.
Its an over the counter cold and cough med, and can be legally purchased by youth here in our state.
I went to the school counselor, "hypotheically" told her the story, and she said it is running rampant in Jr. Highs locally, and acrosss the country.
How sad, how scary...how tragic...
I wanted to share this, in hopes of making parents, even unsuspecting parents, like myself, AWARE....
The following is an excerpt from an online article about this form of teen drug abuse.
[b][b]One major way teens are getting their DXM fixes is by taking "triple C" - Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold, which contains 30 mg of DXM in little red tablets. Users taking large volumes of triple C run additional health risks because triple C contains an antihistamine as well. The list of other ingredients - decongestants, expectorants, and pain relievers - contained in other Coricidin products and OTC cough and cold preparations compound the risks associated with DXM and could lead to a serious drug overdose.
In addition to Triple C, other street names for DXM include: Candy, C-C-C, Dex, DM, Drex, Red Devils, Robo, Rojo, Skittles, Tussin, Velvet, and Vitamin D. Users are sometimes called "syrup heads," and the act of abusing DXM is often called "dexing," "robotripping," or "robodosing" (because users chug Robitussin or another cough syrup to achieve their desired high).
What Happens When Teens Abuse DXM?
Although DXM can be safely taken in 15- to 30-milligram doses to effectively suppress a cough, users tend to consume as much as 360 milligrams or more. Taking mass quantities of products containing DXM can cause hallucinations, loss of motor control, and "out-of-body" (disassociative) sensations.
Other possible side effects of DXM abuse include: confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision, dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, headache, lethargy, numbness of fingers and toes, redness of face, dry and itchy skin, loss of consciousness, seizures, brain damage, and even death.
When consumed in large quantities, DXM can also cause hyperthermia, or high fever. This is a real concern for teens who take DXM while in a hot environment or while exerting themselves at a rave or dance club, where DXM is often sold and passed off as similar-looking drugs like PCP.
Being on the Lookout
If you suspect that your child may be abusing over-the-counter medicines or if your teen often attends raves or dance clubs where DXM can likely be found in abundance, it might be a good idea to:
Lock your medicine cabinet, or keep those OTC medicines that could potentially be abused in a less accessible place.
Avoid stockpiling OTC medicines. Having too many OTC medications at your teen's disposal could make abusing them more tempting.
Keep track of how much is in each bottle or container in your medicine cabinet.
Keep an eye out for not only traditional-looking cough and cold remedies in your teen's room, but also strange-looking tablets (DXM is often sold on the Internet and at raves in its pure form in various shapes and colors).
Look for possible warning signs of DXM abuse listed above.
Monitor your child's Internet usage. Be on the lookout for suspicious websites and emails that seem to be promoting the abuse of DXM or other drugs, both legal and illegal.
Above all, talk to your kids about drug abuse and explain that even though taking lots of a cough or cold medicine seems harmless, it's not. Whether it comes from inside the family medicine cabinet or the corner drugstore, when taken in large amounts dextromethorphan is still a drug that can be just as deadly as those sold by drug dealers on a seedy street corner. And even if you don't think your teen is doing it, chances are they know someone who is.
Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: February 2004[/b][/b]
