Medications being used to harm instead of heal

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Christie Putz
  • 92nd ARW Public Affairs
Most parents know to keep medicine out of the hands of small children. However, toddlers and pre-schoolers aren't the only ones sneaking into cabinets and causing trouble.

Many teenagers and young adults are now using over-the-counter and prescription drugs as an easy and cheap way to get high, said Peter LeGrand, Fairchild's drug demand reduction program manager.

The most prevalent drug of choice is Dextromethorphan, or DXM, an ingredient in many OTC cough and cold remedies. Teens are popping pills or downing syrups with this ingredient to reach a state that is described as similar to a mixture of alcohol, opiates and marijuana.

This type of abuse is commonly called "Robo-Tripping" after one of the medications that is often used to get this high.

When taken in large quantities, DXM is known to cause brain damage, seizures, loss of consciousness and irregular heartbeat. There are also psychological damages, such as addiction and depression.

The age group that is at greatest risk for this type of abuse, estimates Mr. LeGrand, is late elementary and middle school students.

"Children at this age do not have access to a lot of street drugs and/or alcohol like most high schoolers, so they fill their need to 'be cool' by hitting the medicine cabinet and shoplifting OTC," he said.

Sometimes, the ease with which these drugs can be acquired will give a false sense of security, because users reason they are manufactured commercially and their strength is controlled.

"The downside is that the current guideline among youth is that if one is good, two are better," Mr. LeGrand said.

With this theory, abusers could suppress their central nervous system with the drug, stopping their brain and ultimately causing their lungs to cease breathing.

And that's just from the DXM alone.

Cold medicines contain combinations of other drugs, including acetaminophen, guaifenesin, ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, and chlorpheniramine maleate, all with different effects on the body.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, acetaminophen overdoses alone lead to more than 56,000 emergency room visits a year in the United States. Of those, about three quarters are intentional, and 100 are deadly.

There have been reports of people drinking three or four bottles of cough syrup in one day and taking up to 20-30 tablets at once.

"The old days of take two aspirin and call me in the morning have gone the way of the horse and buggy," said Mr. LeGrand. "Advertising on TV encourages that for every pain there is a drug you can take."

Prescription drugs are not exempt from this trend.

"There is oftentimes the impression that prescription drugs are 'safer' then illegal street drugs," he said.

However, abuse and addiction to prescription drugs can be just as harmful. And with the power of the internet, anyone with a computer and a credit card can order most any drug they want, without a prescription.

"An alarming number of bad actors are posing as legitimate online pharmacies, confusing U.S. consumers and providing them with unsafe and illegal prescription drugs, including addictive narcotic drugs," according to the FDA Web site, www.fda.gov.

"These illegal (often offshore) pharmacies are a serious threat to health and public safety and may provide consumers with pharmaceuticals that could be expired, diluted, contaminated, or even replaced with counterfeit medications," the site warns.

Pill passing from one person to another, or unwelcome use of another person's prescription, is also an issue.

"If the script is not written for you personally it is an illegal drug, and there are some pretty powerful prescriptions out there," said Mr. LeGrand.

The most commonly abused prescriptions are pain-killers, such as morphine, codeine, oxycodone and hydrocodone, as well as depressants and stimulants.

"Families need to be concerned, as this is a relatively new trend that parents are perhaps unaware of," said Mr. LeGrand. "Prescription drugs, and access to the same, is becoming a huge problem in the schools."

For information about this or any other drug issues, contact Mr. LeGrand or Pete Joplin at the Drug Demand Reduction Office, 247-3944 or 247-2554.