DRUG BOUGHT ON INTERNET SICKENS 4 TEENS AT SCHOOL

TREDYFFRIN -- Four Conestoga High School students were sickened yesterday
after taking a white powdery substance given to them by two fellow students
who bought the apparently legal drug through the Internet, township police
said.

Complaining of shortness of breath and a racing heart, four female
sophomores were taken to Paoli Memorial Hospital shortly after lunch. They
had been released by last night.

The two male students who gave the girls the drug were questioned but not
charged, police said. The two, ages 15 and 16, are from Berwyn. Their names
were not released.

"The signs and symptoms are not life-threatening," Tredyffrin police Sgt.
Joseph Carbo said. "We do not know of any violations now."

The drug is dextromethorphan, or DXM. It is commonly found in
over-the-counter cough suppressants. When taken in much larger doses, the
drug can cause stomach pain, cramping, dizziness and vomiting, and may
result in a coma and brain damage.

Police said they did not know when the girls ingested the drug or how much
they had taken. The girls were a 16-year-old from Berwyn and three
15-year-olds, from Wayne, Devon and Radnor.

"We understand that these boys have been taking the drug for a while," Carbo
said. "It seems that only the four girls had this kind of reaction. We were
able to get a sample of the drug and bring it to the hospital, where it is
being tested."

A search of the Internet last night produced more than a dozen Web sites for
DXM, including those that advertise the sale of the drug as well as personal
sites that tout its effects and recommend music to lis ten to when taking
it.

A majority of the sites appear geared toward young people, including
sections that offer advice on "going to class, school, or work on DXM" and
"How do I tell my friends I'm getting high off cough syrup?"

Kris Gorman, a pharmacist at Paoli Memorial Hospital, said DXM was a "very,
very dangerous drug."

"It's used as a cough suppressant that is found in syrups with 'DM' in the
name, like Robitussin DM," Gorman said.

Cough syrups, however, usually contain about 5 milligrams of DXM per
teaspoon, not nearly enough to cause any harm, Gorman said.

People who abuse the drug, she said, take anywhere from 300 milligrams to
1,500 milligrams.

"There's different plateaus you can reach," Gorman said. "At first it may
have a mild, stimulant effect. Second plateau is compared to being drunk and
stoned at the same time. Third can be hallucinating. The fourth plateau, the
most dangerous, would be like experiencing an out-of-body feeling."

Possession of the drug is not illegal, she said. "You can't just go into the
pharmacy and buy it," Gorman said. "You'd have to order it through a drug
company."

On the Internet, other companies advertise that the drug can be bought with
a credit card or through an 800 number.

Police said yesterday that they planned to question the two boys about how
they got the substance on the Internet.

"I did not know anything about this drug," Carbo said. "We didn't even know
if it was legal or illegal." A teacher and a fellow student at Conestoga
said the incident was the talk of the school yesterday. Television news
crews arrived shortly after ambulances took the four students away. Classes
resumed once the commotion was over.

At the close of school, Principal Susan Yates held a faculty meeting to
brief teachers on how to handle questions from students today. She told
teachers to stress that the drug was not an illegal substance and that the
situation was under control, according to a teacher who declined to be
identified. The teacher said Yates ordered the staff not to talk to
reporters about the incident. Yates could not be reached for comment last
night. Superintendent Theodore Foot did not return phone calls.