Robo-tripping and Teenagers

If this is really a problem, I say why not put the stink'in cough medicine behind the counter? We do it with the medication that is used to make meth. I haven't had a problem getting Sudafed since those rules went into effect. I would rather be inconvenienced than let teenagers accidentally kill themselves with cough medicine.

FROM NBC: Teens are downing entire bottles of cough syrup in an attempt to get high -- and now the Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to restrict access to such drugs.

"I have some friends who will drink an entire bottle of Robitussin." It's called "robo-tripping" -- referring to the cough medicine "Robitussin" and about 100 other over-the-counter medications that contain dextromethorphan, or DXM. At least 5-percent of teens admit to taking 8 to 20 times the recommended dosages in an attempt to get high. Steve Pasierb - Partnership for a Drug-free America "This is a safe medicine, but when you're drinking a whole bottle or multiple bottles of cough syrup, it opens up to a whole host of problems.

You can have heart palpitations, seizures, you can lose consciousness altogether." Since 2004, the number of emergency room visits related to DXM overdoses has risen more than 70-percent. "It's certainly a greater problem than we know about." ER physician Dr. Thomas Tallman has been on duty when kids have come in after a d-x-m overdose.

Dr. Thomas Tallman - Cleveland Clinic "What we noticed was a pattern that developed in the afternoon about the time school let out... first one, then a second, and before we were done 7 or 8 of these kids that were all high school age." representing the cough medicine industry, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association says, "These medicines are very safe, abuse is low, and the harm from abuse is rare."

Over-the-counter cough medicines are easily accessible -- and legal. Drug abuse experts say that may give kids a false sense of security about taking large amounts. Steve pasierb - partnership for a drug-free america) "this is not a cheap and easy way to get high. and when your kids do this, they're creating as much risk for themselves as abusing illegal street drugs." But unlike illegal street drugs, products containing DXM are for sale in plain view.

An advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration will vote later today on whether to move the over-the-counter cough medicines *behind* the counter, or make them available by prescription only. The FDA is not required to follow its advisory committees' recommendations, but usually does.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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