Dextromethorphan - Usage Trends

Usage Trends

Between 2000 and 2003, the number of dextromethorphan abuse cases reported to national poison control centers more than doubled, from 1,623 to 3,271, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The vast majority of dextromethorphan abusers are teenagers or young adults. The main way they get the drug is by buying it in over-the-counter medications.

Deaths from Over-the-Counter Drugs?

Since 2000, newspapers and magazines have reported numerous deaths associated with dextromethorphan abuse. A twenty-year-old Colorado man was found dead in his bed of a Coricidin HBP overdose in May of 2004, as reported in the Rocky Mountain News. A few months earlier, People Weekly magazine detailed the similar death of a twenty-two-year-old college honor student who overdosed on powder he bought on the Internet. The same People Weekly article mentioned a fourteen-year-old Colorado boy who was killed by an automobile when trying to cross a busy highway to purchase more pills.

Two mothers who found their teenagers abusing dextromethorphan have started a parents' awareness group in Oregon. One of those mothers told the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard: "What parents should do if their child is on these pills, they need to take them to the doctor or the hospital because of the damage that can be done. Definitely get medical help."

In a scientific study published in the journal Adolescence, Momodou N. Darboe suggested that cough syrup provides "an attractive choice for experimental abuse or misuse." Darboe found several reasons for the abuse of over-the-counter cough syrups. First, of course, is availability, then affordability. Teens with limited spending money—and perhaps a fear of breaking the law—can purchase cough syrups with dextromethorphan.

The second reason for cough syrup abuse, according to Darboe, is the "fear factor." The author explained: "Taking three or more pills of anything bears the threat … of suicide. Powders or needles, if not prescribed, are often associated with harder, more addictive, illicit, and dangerous drugs and substances. Since cough syrup, on the other hand, [does not have] these qualities or connotations, it is relatively easier for a curious teenager to [want] to experiment with it."

Darboe made another observation in the Adolescence report. According to the author, "other studies show abuse of licit [legal] drugs to be a precursor of illicit drug use." Put simply, a person who takes chances abusing dextromethorphan, an easily obtainable drug, may be more likely to begin taking illegal and more addictive drugs.