KIDS ABUSE COUGH PILLS, OFFICIALS SAY

Coricidin a popular high

Cincinnati poison control officials are warning of an alarming drug
abuse trend in which teens take large amounts of Coricidin HBP, an
over-the-counter cough medicine, in order to get an LSD-like high.

From Jan. 1 to Feb. 14, there were at least 28 calls about abuse of
dextromethorphan, a nonprescription cough suppressant, to officials at
the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Information Center at Children's Hospital.

Twenty-two of them were specifically about Coricidin, and 19 of the 28
were for ingestions of the drug. About 12 were treated at hospitals.

"It's alarming to us," said Karen Simone, manager of the information
center. "This is a very large amount of cases for anything, much less
for over-the-counter."

Dr. Simone said most other calls were from health professionals,
school officials and law enforcement officers seeking information
about multiple cases of drug abuse or shoplifting of Coricidin.

The information center has also received calls from parents who
discovered their children were abusing the drug or other
dextromethorphan-containing products.

Although no deaths have been reported, Dr. Simone said the symptoms --
increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, drowsiness, dizziness,
hallucinations and confusion -- are serious.

"We're afraid if this pattern continues, that there may be a serious
outcome or a fatality," Dr. Simone said, adding that calls have come
from as far as Akron and Toledo.

"It's not just this area."

Dextromethorphan abuse is not new. Large amounts of Robitussin-DM and
other similar drugs have been abused for years, but most contain up to
15 mg of dextromethorphan per teaspoon. The new trend of using
Coricidin is an attempt to avoid drinking 4 ounces to 8 ounces or more
of cough syrup at a time, which often causes nausea, Dr. Simone said.

"It's easier to swallow eight or 10 or 15 tablets than to take one to
three bottles," she said.

Coricidin HBP for Cough and Cold has 30 mg of dextromethorphan per
tablet. It also contains 4 mg of chlorpheniramine, an antihistamine.
Excessively large amounts of either drug could be fatal, Dr. Simone
said.

An additional risk for those engaging in this trend is choosing the
wrong Coricidin product. Some include acetaminophen, the active
ingredient in Tylenol, and/or phenylpropanolamine, a decongestant.
Overdoses of acetaminophen can cause liver damage, and large doses of
phenylpropanolamine are toxic to the heart and central nervous system.

John Mallery of Catholic Social Services, an organization that does
school-based substance abuse prevention, said teens he's talked with
have experimented with the drug and some are taking high doses.

"I've heard of kids taking upwards of 50," he said. "It's what all the
kids are talking about."

Officials from the drug and poison information center said the users
have been teens and young adults, mostly 13-19.

"It gets them high, they hallucinate and it's easy to get," Mr.
Mallery said. "It's a part of their culture to try different things."