They're legal, inexpensive and accessible. And while over-the-counter meds are believed to be safe, when used in large quantities, they can kill. This information has not escaped teens looking for powerful highs, who are overdosing on nonprescription drugs and becoming emergency room statistics.

Coricidin, the cold medication that goes by the street name Triple C and DXM, is all too familiar to Fairfield High School drug counselor Kevin Curry. "It's the main over-the-counter drug I see right now," says Curry, who also runs a private practice in Waterbury. Teens, he explains, buy this drug as well as the cough syrup Robitussin for the DXM content.

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