Kids Using Cough Syrup to Get High

Over-the-Counter Drug Abuse Linked to Hospitalizations and Death

Oct 9, 2009

Over the past decade, kids as young as 12 have been getting high by downing large amounts of cough syrup; thousands have been hospitalized; some have died.

"Music was so amazing, I could feel the beat in my bones and the music was running through my body like my blood!" "My arms and legs felt like they weren't connected to my body, and I was totally convinced that my body had separated into two or three parts." "Colors were crazy intense, almost like they were alive!"

"When I thought my trip was peaking, I saw or felt something invisible, yet incredibly large and fast, moving around me in the forest. Very intense. So much more than an acid smurf, I felt as though it WAS the forest, trying to contact me." "I felt like I was actually in a Doom game with the monsters."

These are actual descriptions of drug-induced highs, but the drug that produced these hallucinations wasn't acid, crack or ecstasy; it was cough syrup.

What is Cough Medicine Abuse?

In the last decade, youth as young as 12 have learned that they can get high for a few dollars with a bottle of cough syrup or a box of cold tablets from the local drug store. Cough medicine abuse involves consuming large amounts of cough syrup or cold tablets containing the drug dextromethorphan, or DXM. Taken in the correct dosage, DXM is a safe and effective cough suppressant that has been used in the U.S. since the 1950's. At levels above the recommended dosage, however, DXM is a dangerous dissociative drug like PCP (also known as angel dust) and ketamine (an animal tranquilizer).

DXM is synthetic drug that acts as a depressant as well as a mild hallucinogen. It's currently used as a cough suppressant in over 140 over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications. It's legal, cheap, easy to get, and according to the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), DXM was used to get high at least once by 3.1 million persons between the ages of 12-25 in 2006.

How is DXM Used to Get High?

Because it's legal and available in the same stores that sell gum and soda, DXM abusers are under the misconception that DXM is a "safe high." The normal, medicinal DXM dose to relieve a cough is 15-30 milligrams, but abusers report taking anywhere from 100 to 1500 milligrams to achieve mind-altering effects. Users have slang names for it, such as Dex, Robo, Poor Man's X, Triple-C, Vitamin D, Red Devils, Skittles or Tussin. Taking large amounts to produce a high is usually known as "robo-dosing," "tussing," "dexing" or "robo-tripping."

DXM abusers typically consume extremely large quantities – as much as an entire eight-ounce bottle – very quickly, to allow the drug time to be absorbed before the user vomits. Sadly, as the popularity of DXM abuse has increased, Internet sites have been created not only to sell the pure powder form of DXM, but also to help users calculate the dosage they'll need to consume to get high, based on their weight. These sites also often suggest other drugs to combine with DXM to experience different highs.

What are the Effects of DXM?

The effects of DXM last for six hours or more, and are characterized by a set of distinct "plateaus," ranging from a mild "buzz" to complete dissociation, a mental process that results in the inability to connect thoughts, memory and sense of identity. High doses of DXM often result in the inability to move arms or legs, or talk and think coherently. Breathing often slows, the user hallucinates and sweats profusely, vision becomes blurred and fingers and toes may become numb. Far more serious effects have been reported, and include seizures, increased heart rate and blood pressure, permanent brain damage, coma or even death.

DXM Deaths

In Bellingham, Washington, two teens died from an overdose of DXM on April 23, 2005 after purchasing pure DXM powder from an Internet web site, which has since been shut down by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Several other deaths across the country have been reported.

Additionally, "muti-symptom" cough syrups and tablets or gelcaps often also contain acetominophen, antihistamines or decongestants, which when abused, can cause liver damage, brain damage, or death. Kids who indulge in this type of drug abuse typically are not aware of the existence of these other, potentially harmful drugs in cold medications; they're just looking for the DXM.

What Parents Need to Do

The U.S. Dept. of Justice's National Drug Intelligence Center reports that the DXM abuse problem is compounded by the fact that parents are unaware that their kids could be using common products like cold tablets or cough medicine to get high. They predict that DXM abuse among adolescents will most likely increase due to the drug's availability, low cost and perceived low risk.

Parents Need to Watch for the Following Signs

If parents suspect that their youth might be using OTC medications to get high, The Partnership for a Drug Free America suggests that they speak with him or her about their concerns. The conversation should not be confrontational, but should instead be focused on the unsuspected dangers of DXM abuse – seizures, brain damage, and even death.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "FDA Warns Against Abuse of Dextromethorphan (DXM)." Rockfield, MD: National Press Office: May 20, 2005. Talk Paper T05-23.

The copyright of the article Kids Using Cough Syrup to Get High in Teen Culture is owned by Lori Nash. Permission to republish Kids Using Cough Syrup to Get High in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.