Many parents who warn their teens repeatedly not to use illegal drugs are unaware of the temptation and risk posed by over-the-counter medications such as cough medicine. But cough medicine provides an inexpensive, easily accessible high to one out of 11 teens, according to the Partnership for a Drug-free America. And teens are often ignorant of or in denial about the risks posed by over-the-counter medicines which, they reason, are safe and legal. A 2008 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study indicated that only 45% of teens think taking cough medicine to get high is hazardous. Teens may not consider that though dextromethorphan (DXM) is safe to take in the recommended 15-to 30-milligram dose, they are likely to consume 360 milligrams or more in the effort to get high.
The effects of overdosing on DXM include:
The situation becomes even more dangerous when teens abuse drugs they believe are safe and then get behind the wheel. To make matters worse, many teens who experiment with using cough medicine to get high do so when they are already under the influence of another drug, such as alcohol. This intensifies the effects, and, of course, makes driving riskier.
Information on how to abuse DXM is readily available on the internet and via teens’ friends, so parents must counteract it with information of their own – and with vigilance. Here are some tips for parents: