Teenagers' use of over-the-counter cold and cough medicines to get a cheap high -- a practice known as "robotripping" -- is rising 50% a year and becoming one of the fastest-growing drug abuse problems in California and around the country, according to a study released Monday.
Since 1999, teen abuse of Coricidin pills, Robitussin syrup and other common medications has risen 10-fold, data from the California Poison Control System show. The widely available and inexpensive medicines are growing in popularity while use of illegal drugs such as Ecstasy, LSD and the date rape drug GHB have dropped, according to the report.
"Hey, Mom and Dad, pay attention," said Marilyn MacDougall, executive director of the Orange County Sheriff Department's drug abuse prevention program. "Over-the-counter medicines are the upcoming way your kids are going to abuse drugs."
The cold remedies are valued for an ingredient called dextromethorphan, which can cause hallucinations and out-of-body experiences. In extreme cases, like that of 16-year-old Anaheim student Lucia Martino, they can cause death. The drug, known by kids as DXM or Dex, was first abused in the 1960s when it was in a cough medicine called Romilar, which was withdrawn from the market in 1973.
Health officials spotted a revival in the late 1990s. About two-thirds of abusers now take Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, whose candy-red tablets are nicknamed CCC, triple C and skittles. Robotripping takes its name from Robitussin, the second most abused cold medicine.
A study in May by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America estimated that 2.4 million teens -- about 1 in 10 -- got high on cough medicines in 2005. That puts it on a par with cocaine and slightly above methamphetamine.
California school administrators are learning of the craze the hard way. In El Dorado, a community outside of Sacramento noted for its apple orchards and Christmas tree farms, seven high school students were rushed to the emergency room in October after taking Coricidin. The Union Mine High School students had purchased several boxes at a dollar store and swallowed five to eight tablets each during their morning snack time.
Administrators found out after one student started vomiting in class.
"This is new to us -- it caught a lot of people by surprise," said Principal Carl Fickle. "It didn't catch the kids by surprise."
