COLD MEDICINE IS LATEST DRUG FOR TEENAGERS TO MISUSE

Waukesha - It started with a 16-year-old North High School junior
whose teacher claimed he was "acting strange" in class and who was
suspected to have taken drugs.

After the student blamed his disoriented state on an over-the-counter
cold medication called Coricidin, school and police officials soon
discovered the problem may be larger than the one student.

"In talking with him, that's what it sounds like the kids are doing
these days," Waukesha school resource officer Tom Wallschlaeger said.
"He says that he would take anywhere from eight to 12 (Coricidin
tablets). He says that it makes him hallucinate."

Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold is popular enough among young drug users
that it has its own street name, "Triple C."

Wallschlaeger and Waukesha School District officials first heard of
its possible abuse this month involving that North High School
student, whom they eventually determined was on a different drug that
day.

Since then, Waukesha officials already have disciplined another
student caught with a box of Coricidin in her locker. And they say
they have talked to other students who report even wider use.

Some drug counselors and health professionals in the state also say
they have seen a recent resurgence in teen misuse of over-the-counter
medications - particularly substances that contain the
cough-suppressing ingredient dextromethorphan, as does Coricidin.

Drug Calls Arrive Daily

"I would say, daily, we are getting calls about individuals who are
being seen in emergency departments who are taking
dextromethorphan-containing products as a means to get high," said
Ernest Stremski, director of the poison center at Children's Hospital
of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.

In fact, the center has received so many calls from throughout the
state that it created a pamphlet that discusses the dangers of abuse
of over-the-counter drugs to be distributed to schools, Stremski said.

The Council on Family Health, a group supported by the pharmaceutical
industry, also provides a warning on its Web site for parents and
educators about the possible misuse of dextromethorphan.

Products Called Safe To Use

"The thing that we're trying to do here is share whatever knowledge
we have about the misuse of this product with appropriate folks,
whether they be parents, educators, schools and school officials,"
said Jim Lawenda, a spokesman for Schering-Plough HealthCare
Products, which manufactures the Coricidin line. "We can only stress
that our products, when used as directed, are safe and effective. We
are very concerned as well about consumer health."

Many times, the danger with overdosing on cold medicine comes from
ingredients such as antihistamines and acetaminophen, which can't get
you high but can make you sick, Stremski said. Children's Hospital
recently admitted two adolescent girls with liver failure after each
had taken 15 to 20 dextromethorphan-loaded tablets, he said.

In 2000, the poison center recorded 146 cases of dextromethorphan
abuse, with the majority of those using the drug to get high and the
rest to attempt suicide. Sixty-five percent of the users were ages 13
to 19, Stremski said.

"My suspicion is we're probably going to see higher numbers in 2001," he said.

Technique Dubbed 'Robo-ing'

Dextromethorphan, or DXM, has been around for years in medications
such as Robitussin DM or Vicks 44D. That's why some have dubbed
misuse of the drug as "robo-ing."

The over-the-counter availability as well as the palatability of the
powdered form of DXM - which is used in Coricidin tablets - have
aided its abuse among teenage and young adult drug users, according
to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA has recently started
monitoring the drug.

Drug Is Not Controlled

But neither the DEA nor any other law enforcement agency has control
over distribution of the drug.

"It's a concern for us," said school resource officer Wallschlaeger.
"I mean, everyone has access to it and you really don't think that
much about it if someone would have it in their possession. . . . I
don't know how many red flags it would set off if someone were to go
in and buy a box of Coricidin."

Marijuana and other illicit drugs and alcohol are still, by far, the
high of choice for most Wisconsin teen drug users, almost everyone
agrees.

Out of 10 students questioned outside of Waukesha North High School
earlier last week, nine said they had never heard of students abusing
over-the-counter drugs, or Coricidin.

Only junior Tracy Pillsbury, 17, said she had heard of Coricidin use,
although she said she had never taken the drug.

"I know a lot of people who do it," she said, adding that they were
students at all grade levels at the school. "I guess it's a cheap
form of acid."

What concerns drug counselors and others about abuse of
over-the-counter medications is that it seems to attract younger
users and indicates some reckless experimentation among teens.

"What I have seen is an increase in kids using any kind of
over-the-counter stuff. And sometimes what I've seen kids do is mash
a bunch of this stuff up," said Kathy Sorenson, program director of
Project HUGS in Madison, which works with families of kids with drug
and alcohol problems. "I've never seen this kind of carefree attitude
with kids (before) - not looking at what the result is, just looking
for the next escape."

In addition to monitoring closely the contents of their medicine
cabinets, parents who suspect their children could be abusing cold
medicines should watch for disorientation or lethargy in their kids,
health officials say.

But, because many teen drug users are adept at hiding their behavior,
parents also just need to be on the lookout for larger indicators,
such as depression, Sorenson said.

"I think that parents, in general, need to look at their kids and
they need to say, 'Is this normal behavior?' - no matter what it is,"
she said. "So many of the kids that I work with are heavy-duty drug
users, but you won't see the drug use."

The poison center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin can be reached
at (414) 266-2222. Those outside of the Milwaukee-area can call (800)
815-8855, if dialing in Wisconsin, or (800) 222-1222, if dialing from
outside of the state.