Pubdate: Sun, 28 Aug 2005
Source: News & Advance, The (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Media General
Contact:  http://www.newsadvance.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2087
Author: Dionne Waugh

'MAD MAX' AND COUGH SYRUP LINK EXPLORED

Most of us can't imagine taking dozens of cold and cough tablets or 
chugging a bottle of Robitussen just to get high.

But for some teens, those over-the-counter medications are a cheap and 
easily accessible answer.

Though the greater Lynchburg area is not seeing a rise in the abuse of 
over-the-counter medication by teens, the effects onthose who do use can be 
serious.

A Campbell County teenager accused of committing two break-ins, a rape and 
a beating told authorities he had consumed Coricidin HBP, an 
over-the-counter cold medicine, during the nights of the incidents.

The perpetrator called himself "Mad Max" during the attacks and told his 
victims that "this is what I do."

Shay William Ward, who was 17 at the time of the incidents in late April 
and early May, said he had taken the medication and gone for a walk, but 
could only remember bits and pieces of the evening, investigators testified 
in court earlier this month.

Abuse of over-the-counter medications by teens prompted the U.S. Food and 
Drug Administration to issue a warning in May about the abuse of 
dextromethorphan (DXM), a synthetically produced ingredient found in many 
over-the-counter cough and cold remedies.

The abuse is widespread enough to prompt some Walgreens and CVS stores to 
restrict the sale of Coricidin.

Lynchburg is no exception. The Timberlake Road Walgreens, for example, only 
lets customers buy a single pack at a time from the pharmacy.

One Web site, (http://www.coricidin.org/www.coricidin.org, is devoted to 
educating people about the dangers of abusing Coricidin, spotlighting more 
than a dozen violent crimes and suicides committed across the country by 
people while under the influence of the drug.

Robert F. Golaszewski, who maintains the site, said that Coricidin is 
different and much more dangerous than the high-inducing element - DXM - it 
contains.

In addition to DXM, Coricidin also contains chlorpheniramine maleate. This 
is a class of drug that in general is very dangerous to take in large doses 
with DXM, the site states.

Worse yet, that drug is also metabolized by the same liver enzyme as is DXM.

The competition for this limited enzyme by the two drugs makes taking them 
together, in large doses, a dangerous combination, the site states.

Golaszewski points out that DXM has been around since the 1960s, it's just 
gotten more attention recently. Coricidin, in particular, has become 
popular because of its pill form, as opposed to cough syrup.

The abuse of the drug has multiple physical and psychological effects.

Using Coricidin and any other drug in excess or in combination with other 
drugs can cause blackouts, said Sharon Wood, the project manager with the 
substance abuse and mental health services administration at Central 
Virginia Community Services, which works with the state department to 
provide local programs, including substance abuse.

"A person can have blackouts when they can't remember specific periods. 
They may remember up to a certain time and not anything after. My own 
personal experience is that not a lot remember bits and pieces, they just 
don't remember periods of time," she said.

Physically, the drug can cause serious liver and kidney damage because the 
drugs are filtered through those organs, Wood said.

The drugs can also affect a person's memory, concentration and cause mood 
swings, restlessness, disturbances in sleep and eating patterns, she said.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the psychological 
effects of abusing medications containing DXM vary depending on the amount 
taken, but they can range from depressant and mild hallucinogenic effects 
to a sense of complete dissociation from one's body.

Nicknamed "Triple C" or "Skittles" because of its size and red color, the 
medications are popular among teens for several reasons, the top being that 
they're easily accessible, some as close as their parents' medicine cabinet.

The Internet has also encouraged the drug's popularity with the creation of 
Web sites that explain how to use the drug and give recipes for mixing the 
medication with other drugs, such as Robitussen, cocaine, marijuana and 
alcohol.

Even media stories that seek to raise awareness of the dangers of using the 
drug also pique teens' interest.

"A lot of people didn't know how to do it until someone told them how not 
to do it," Wood said.

But there are often warning signs before the drug use gets serious, she said.

Wood said parents should look for changes in their child's behavior such as 
their eating and sleeping habits, what kinds of friends they're hanging out 
with, school performance, attitudes at home and at school and if they're 
becoming more isolative and irritable.

"A lot of times they see the values go down - stealing, lying, fighting, 
the rudeness, the intimidation, aggressiveness - that they may not have 
seen in this child," Wood said.

"The values have been taken over by the drug. Things they normally would 
not have done they're now are able to do and not have a lot of guilt about it."

For a variety of reasons, a lot of parents don't want to face the facts 
that their child may be using drugs, Wood said.

"I think sometimes it's their own fears that they haven't been good enough 
parents. We brush it off," she said.

"Sometimes there's a history of addiction in the family, so it's a 
right-of-passage type thing and we ignore it."

Parents also may not realize that the drugs of today are much stronger than 
they were 10 or 20 years ago, Wood said.

Others parents may be too busy, embarrassed or unsure of where to go to get 
their teen help.

"Parents need to follow through. If their child is using, go and get them 
help while they still can instead of waiting until something serious 
happens, like this case," she said.
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