Use by school kids a nightmare for parents

Monday, February 21, 2005 10:02 AM CST

By ASHLEY GARDNER


Linda Murphy recently got the scare of her life when she discovered her 14-year-old son Bryan Murphy had taken Coricidin. He didn't take it for a cold, but to get high.

"He was at a friend's house and I got a call from my oldest son telling me what he had done," Linda said. "I had never even heard of it."

She made the short trip to his friend's house and picked both boys up.

"He first tried to lie to me but I told him I had already talked to his brother. When I seen them, I could tell something was wrong," Linda recalls. "They were lethargic, like they weren't feeling good and after I got through with them, I think they were scared to death."

Coricidin is a cold medicine for people with heart conditions and contains dextromethorphan, a dissociative anesthetic that can create psychedelic effects at high doses.

"What scared me is that I got on the Internet and I was reading about it. They say something like 80 to 90 percent of Coricidin sold is used recreationally by kids," Linda said. "It's going through this community big time and I don't think kids have a clue how much it can hurt them."

Young Bryan heard about the drug through-where else-friends at school. "They told me it was fun," he said.

Bryan walked into a local store and purchased the drug with no questions asked.

"I was trying not to look nervous," he said.

A couple of hours and four pills later, the effects of the drug had kicked in, but they didn't live up to Bryan's expectations.

"I got dizzy after awhile. I sort of felt sick when I would walk," he remembers. " I got a headache. It was not a good experience."

The experience may not have been good, but medical experts say it was not as bad as it could have been.

Substantial dissociation and hallucinations can occur when taken in excessively large amounts, 10 ounces or more. Users report time and space distortion and out-of-body sensations. Some have reported contacting alien beings or spirits, according to the Current Psychiatry Website.

"I took him to his pediatrician a few days later. She told him how many kids are in the emergency room each weekend overdosing on stuff like this," Linda said. "It's a scary thought to realize how prevalent dex is among school age children."

Linda said parents need to wake up and find out what their kids are doing. She has.

"Anybody can do this. People don't think it's their kids, but it is. It doesn't matter what their family background is," she said. "If you have kids, you have to be aware and never say it couldn't be my child. That's the biggest mistake parents make."

It's an experience Linda hopes she never has to repeat. But when it comes to trust, she knows they still have a ways to go.

"I have made him read so much material. I think I've scared him," Linda said.

"I want to trust him. I think you have to trust but not blind trust."

As for Bryan, he says he's learned his lesson.

"I will never do it again. It's not worth it," he said.

LINK: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2...news/news04.txt

[LiquidCucumber]

Wow, I'm really glad I have a brother I can trust not to be a tattle-tale.

[ranticalion]

Originally posted by drdªv€@Feb 22 2005, 08:15 AM
Substantial dissociation and hallucinations can occur when taken in excessively large amounts, 10 ounces or more.

10 ounces huh? Of what? 10 ounces of DXM? of Coricidin pills? cough syrup maybe? I sure hope they mean cough syrup, but there's no way of telling since they don't mention cough syrup anywhere, only Coricidin. They also never even mention that DXM is used as a cough suppressant.

^ Hah, I was just about to post that. I don't think the author of this article did her research

[Masonna]

what is it with journalism these days? when i was in highschool if we turned in a paper that was filled with half truths or thrown together we would have gotten an F, but for some reason that kind of thing is now acceptable? shit im starting to think i can be a writer for a paper, come up with some story that i know will spark some attention then fill it with half truths and lies because im too ignorant to do any research. this makes me sick

[DXM User]

Originally posted by tripp420+Feb 22 2005, 12:08 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (tripp420 @ Feb 22 2005, 12:08 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--drdªv€@Feb 22 2005, 08:15 AM
Substantial dissociation and hallucinations can occur when taken in excessively large amounts, 10 ounces or more.

10 ounces huh? Of what? 10 ounces of DXM? of Coricidin pills? cough syrup maybe? I sure hope they mean cough syrup, but there's no way of telling since they don't mention cough syrup anywhere, only Coricidin. They also never even mention that DXM is used as a cough suppressant. [/b][/quote]
Shit I've had OOBEs, hallucinations, and extreme dissociation off a 4oz... this lady's a fucking MORON.

[libel]

what is it with journalism these days? when i was in highschool if we turned in a paper that was filled with half truths or thrown together we would have gotten an F, but for some reason that kind of thing is now acceptable? shit im starting to think i can be a writer for a paper, come up with some story that i know will spark some attention then fill it with half truths and lies because im too ignorant to do any research. this makes me sick

word

[The_Communist_Threat]

haha...10 ounces...shit.....10 ounces of DXM...that would be really good for a person...shit..10 ounces of any chemical is going to fucking kill you....

and her son only took 4 pills???...i think he'll live...a 14 year old shouldn't be fucking around with dxm anyway...unless he is mature and knows what he is doing..and obviously this kid is neither of the 2.

Bryan walked into a local store and purchased the drug with no questions asked.

"I was trying not to look nervous," he said.

O MY GOD...YOU CAN BUY OTC MEDICATION WITHOUT BEING QUESTIONED ABOUT IT!!?!?!?!?!?!?...i guess GW BUSH isn't doing his job now is he...haha..this article is fucking absurd...and he was trying not to look nervous...he is buying it..not stealing it...and its not alcohol or cigarettes...this kid and this article really pissed me off...and the kids brother is a douche too...

RIDICULOUS...RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!

[squidman]

Users report time and space distortion and out-of-body sensations.

So maybe we could use dxm to create a warp-hole to another dimension? Maybe a time machine? any takers?

[kilo]

I think 10 ounces of Coriciden would kill a rhino.