Parents should know that recent studies reveal teenagers are at increased risk when using cough medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM) to get high. And they should sit their sons and daughters down and tell them just how dangerous this seemingly harmless recreational pastime can be. Dextromethorphan is far from harmless, as this article will explain, and is responsible for too many kids winding up needing emergency medical care, drug rehab or the worst scenario, a coroner.



Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant used in over-the-counter (OTC) cold and cough medicines. The most popular sources are NyQuil and Robitussin, and kids think they’re safe and cool because they’re so easily obtainable at any pharmacy. According to a survey done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) in 2005, an estimated 2.1 million teenagers were abusing OTC cold medicines containing dextromethorphan. Since then, a new survey shows the number has risen 50% to 3.1 million - rivaling the abuse of Ecstasy, LSD and methamphetamines. Although dextromethorphan is rarely seen in drug rehab settings as a primary drug of abuse, it is commonly seen as the culprit behind medical emergencies.

If you discover your kids have tried dextromethorphan cold remedies to get high, ask them if they would willingly take such harmful hypnotic drugs as ketamine or PCP. Most kids say, “Oh, no!" Now tell them that dextromethorphan affects their brain exactly the same way as ketamine and PCP - two incredibly dangerous drugs that have caused thousands of people to need special medical care and lengthy recovery times in drug rehab.

Parents need to know just as much as the kids that dextromethorphan, ketamine and PCP are central nervous system depressants that carry the same risks as opioids like OxyContin and methadone, the nation’s leading prescription drug killers that are also among the most common drugs sending people to drug rehab. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) Committee on Drug Dependence says dextromethorphan does not produce physical addiction, research has confirmed that it can lead to psychological dependence, a situation that often requires drug rehab.

Central nervous system depressants can slow breathing and lower the heart rate to levels that can kill you. The effects of dextromethorphan and similar drugs - if they don’t kill you first - are like a living death: intense feelings of depersonalization, meaning a powerful unreality about your sense of self, and a powerful detachment from the reality around you. These descriptions could easily be used to describe death itself. Even alive, death is in the dextromethorphan picture.

The cure for addiction is drug rehab, but when things haven’t gone that far, the only sane solution is prevention - good drug education, and the good sense to lock up or hide your cough remedies and make sure your kids steer clear of them.

Show your kids the following side effects of dextromethorphan, so they really get the picture:

* dissociation - detachment from reality

* shallow respiration - which can lead to death if serious

* excitation - the crazy, scary unhealthy kind

* nausea

* drowsiness

* body rash and itching

* dizziness

* vomiting

* blurred vision

* dilated pupils

* sweating

* hypertension

* diarrhea

* urinary retention

Dextromethorphan can also cause serious side effects that can only be dealt with in emergency rooms - way too late for counseling and drug rehab:

* increased heart rate

* raised blood pressure

* fever-like rise in body temperature

* gastrointestinal disturbances

* Olney's Lesions - a form of brain damage

And just so you know what to look for (and hope not to find in your teenager’s back pack) dextromethorphan is an active ingredient in these brand-name cough suppressants:

* Benylin

* Coricidin

* Delsym

* Robitussin

* Triaminic

* Vicks

Mom, dad, sisters, brothers - please take the time to check out what’s going on after school, over the weekends, sleep-overs, dances and parties. There’s no way any of you want to find out that something as easily preventable as abusing a simple cold remedy sent your loved one to the hospital or to the morgue. And if you do discover drug abuse, don’t wait, just get the person in for a serious one-on-one with an experienced and sympathetic drug rehab program counselor.