Every parent needs to read this
story
It all began with an email from a
visitor asking me to help get important information to the public. It
seems that Havana's youth have developed extremely dangerous addictions
to "TRIPLE C". A number of Havana's youth have even had such bad
experiences while ingesting large quantities of
I have published this problem on Topix and suggested the e-mail's author contact our State Representative, Rich Myers. He was not aware of this problem and he and his staff are gathering information to see what can be done to provide the necessary legal action to keep drugs such as this out of the hands of those who would abuse it. Thank you Rich for getting involved in this problem.
In case you do not know what
Triple C's (CCC) stands for
Coricidin cold & cough, for high
blood pressure. Triple c's are a disassociative drug, that when taken in
high amounts, can cause a feeling of being over-excited, double vision,
paranoia, and sometimes even hallucinations. it is a psychedelic drug,
that messes with your perception. the main chemical, dxm (or
dextromethorphan). Dextromethorphan is an oral
cough suppressant available in the US without a prescription but which
is sometimes abused as a recreational drug. Dextromethorphan (DXM) is
chemically related to
codeine and acts on the brain to suppress cough, but it does not have
the pain relieving and addictive properties of codeine. DXM is an
ingredient in more than 125 nonprescription cough and cold medications,
including forms of Robitussin, Coricidin and Vicks.
Cough and cold medications containing DXM are becoming popular among
teenagers and young adults looking for a high. Overdoses with DXM
doubled from 2000 to 2003 in the US. DXM is safe in the 15- to
30-milligram doses recommended for treating coughs or colds. But in
large doses (eg 100 milligrams or more), DXM can cause hallucinations
and feelings of unreality. DXM diminishes the vitamin b12 in your brain,
which can be a problem. IT also can cause heart failure and internal
bleeding. Common names for coridicin cold and cough are: triple c's,
skittles, red devils, red velvet, robo's, and robopills. they can become
severely addicting, also.
Some of the signs of DXM abuse include confusion, impaired judgment,
blurred vision, dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech,
seizures, fever, and nausea and vomiting. In some cases, overdoses and
deaths have occurred.
A number of parents/relatives have
posted information on Topix regarding their own experiences with this deadly
drug. I am posting a few of them here:
"Frank
Miller"
wrote: Hi my name is frank miller, I
would like to post somthing. I myself am
severly addicted to over the counter cough meds I used just 48 hrs ago. let
me tell you the addiction is very severe. I have been using it since I was
16 I am 23 now. I have ended up in the Er over 5 times due to overdosing on
cold pills yet my addictions holds fast. Ive let my addiction take me to
hospitals, homlessness, and even prison. I am not proud of my addiction and
Im only writing this in hopes of maybe helping someone that either uses or a
parent or gurdian that has a child that does. for parents you need to know
that corriceden is not the only thing that is or can be abused one of the
other popular ones is delsem cough syurp, it has a higher quanity of DXM per
teaspoon than other cough syurp, but is highly dangerouse due to the fact
that it is time release so the drug hits you all at once. if any one reads
this and wants more info on the subject my e mail is FPMiller@aol.com
"Coker"
wrote: About a month ago I received a call that my
granddaughter was in the ER. I had known about triple c's a few weeks
before. I also knew they were stolen. I went to 3 stores here in town to
report this. I met with al ot of defense. "We can't watch everyone...We
can't take everything off the shelves" I am so relieved this is being dealt
with, because some of the kids in this town are in grave danger taking this
over the counter medication. The day I went to the ER I was shocked to see
the condition of my granddaughter. I grew up in the 60's and experienced the
drug scene, but I have never seen anyone so high and so out of it like she
was. She was hallucinating, slobbering, and totally unaware of her
surroundings. She didn't even know where she was. Her mother was out of town
but when she came in and saw
her daughter, she was horrified. She was finally admitted to Methodist,
where she spent 10 days. She was home only one hour when her "friend"
brought her a bottle of prescription cough medicine with codeine. She drank
the entire bottle. She went back to Methodist and that same evening another
teen from Havana was life flighted to the same ward. This poor kid almost
died.
The Chestnut Health Center Rehab finally has a bed, so my granddaughter
with be admitted there on Friday. I don't know when this started but the
decline is fast. Taken in large doses, "triple c's" cause kidney failure,
cardiac arrest and brain damage. I heard first hand from another teen that
kids are also stealing presciption drugs and trading them for other drugs.
Lock up your meds, Havana, this is serious. I believe the police are doing
all they can legally do. Our own Chief of Police stayed in the ER for hours
with a frantic mom and grandma and a very drugged 15 year old girl. Again,
thanks so much, Ted, this may save someone's life.
The original e-mail read: We have a SERIOUS problem with our havana kids taking controlled substance drugs that do NOT belong to them AND taking "triple C's" which is some kind of over the counter cough pills. My son's best friend overdosed a week ago today (friday) and had to be life flighted. This kid quit breathing a couple of times and had to be intubated. I found pills in a bubble gum wrapper in my son's room last Monday. Sources or rumors has it that at CVS had 10 boxes of this over the counter cough pills on their inventory, NOT one was sold...however ALL 10 boxes are missing from the shelf and "stolen". We need to get the word out to the parents to check our kids rooms and see/know who YOUR kids are hanging out with. Rumor has it that ANOTHER kid from Havana overdosed several days ago and was life flighted. I don't know if that is true or not. Also, I heard that ANOTHER one of our Havana kids is admitted in hospital out of town.
Please get involved, visit the story and get informed on what is going on to stop this in our town. Please ask questions, share information, and HELP. THIS HAS TO STOP and since our police departments do not currently have the laws to enforce and stop this everyone must be aware of this. Please encourage others to talk with their children and do anything you can to keep Triple C and any other over the counter or prescription drugs away from them. We have been lucky so far these children have only ridden in a helicopter, next time it just might be a hearse.
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