The San Mateo County Times wrote:Medicine cabinets not just for the ill
<span class=postbigbold>Study: Teens getting high on cough syrup</span>
<span class=postbold>Research shows abuse of over-the-counter cough syrup on the rise</span>
By Barbara Feder Ostrov, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Article Last Updated:12/05/2006 02:50:25 AM PST
The San Mateo County Times
Kids call it "robo-tripping" or "skittling" — downing high doses of cough syrup or pills to get high off dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant commonly found in over-the-counter medicines.
A new study concludes that robo-tripping is sharply on the rise among teenagers — a finding worrisome to any parent who's wondered about that bottle (or two or three) of Robitussin or Coricidin in their kid's medicine cabinet.
Calls to the California Poison Control System's 24-hour hot line involving teen abuse of the ingredient ballooned 15-fold over six years, from 23 in 1999 to 375 in 2004. While they represent a tiny fraction of all calls made to the hot line — fewerthan two in 1,000 — the surge worries Ilene B. Anderson, a senior toxicologist for the system and senior author of the study.
"We have a product that causes you to get high that's inexpensive, that's readily available, and there's a false perception that because it's over the counter, it's safe," Anderson said. "It lacks the stigma of cocaine or heroin, and it's easy to fool your parents about it."
The study's results echo those of national studies released in recent years by the federal government. Ironically, the rise of robo-tripping appears to coincide with the decline in popularity of LSD, the club drug Ecstasy, and GHB, known as a date-rape drug.
In large doses, dextromethorphan can cause euphoria and hallucinations, part of the "high" teens describe on Internet sites promoting the drug known as DXM, CCC, Triple C, Skittles and Robo. It also can result in seizures, vomiting, dangerous spikes in blood pressure or body temperature and psychosis, and there have been reports of fatal overdoses.
The drug is particularly dangerous when used along with antidepressants like Prozac or Zoloft, or the club drug Ecstasy, Anderson said. And teens who abuse cold medications containing acetaminophen, or Tylenol, risk permanent liver damage.
Anderson blamed part of the increase on Internet sites that promote abuse of the drug and offer detailed information on how many pills or swigs are needed to get high. A pure powder form of dextromethorphan, used by pharmaceutical manufacturers and researchers, easily can be purchased online. Rap songs, such as Three 6 Mafia's "Sippin' on Some Syrup," also have popularized robo-tripping. Even "South Park" has featured a robo-tripping story line.
"It's no longer just word of mouth," Anderson said.
The study was carried out by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, school of pharmacy, which operates the poison control hot line.
They found that nearly three-quarters of all calls regarding dextromethorphan involved youth ages 9 to 17, with most cases of frequent abuse in 15- and 16-year-olds.
The most-abused medication in this age group was Coricidin HPB Cough & Cold Tablets, which contain a relatively high dose of the cough suppressant. Those brightly colored pills have garnered the street name Skittles for the candy they resemble. The next most popular were Robitussin products containing the cough suppressant — hence the street name Robo.
Brenda Stern, who oversees drug abuse treatment programs for a counseling agency serving the Palo Alto school district, says teens who robo-trip are also abusing other drugs, an observation borne out by the California study. She said about 10 to 15 percent of teens referred to her program have abused cold medicines, which still lag behind alcohol, marijuana and cocaine as favored drugs of abuse among the students she sees.
The first reports of dextromethorphan abuse surfaced in the 1960s, when it was the sole ingredient in a over-the-counter cold remedy called Romilar. It was voluntarily removed from the market.
In the mid-1990s, makers of products containing dextromethorphan started hearing new reports of abuse, said Elizabeth Assey, spokeswoman for the Consumer Health Products Association, an industry group. The group has since worked with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America on a campaign to make the public aware of the problem.
"There really is a disconnect where teens know about the potential for abuse, and parents don't," Assey said. "This report really underscores the need for more education and awareness about this trend."
Some supermarkets and drugstores have resorted to storing certain types of dextromethorphan products behind the counter, as they do products containing the stimulant pseudoephedrine. But so many products contain the cough suppressant that it's difficult to restrict them all.
The study was published Monday in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
More information on dextromethorphan is available at http://www.drugfree.org/Parent/Resource ... icineAbuse and, for teens, http://www.dxmstories.com.
<span class=postbold>See:</span> Study: Number of Calif. teens abusing cough medicine soars
