Turning to Anything, Just to Get That High
A cough syrup ingredient is a popular drug
Adding up. But rather than mention these risks, most DXM Internet sites contain information on, say, how much DXM popular cough-medicine brands contain. There are even online DXM "calculators": Plug in your weight and how high you want to get, and the Web site will tell you how much of the drug you need to take. While the recommended adult dose of DXM in cough syrup formulations is about 30 milligrams every six to eight hours, some sites suggest taking more than even the 240 mg in an entire bottle.
Thomas McGinnis, director of pharmacy affairs at the Food and Drug Administration, says the agency is looking into whom the New Jersey students bought the drug from. "The FDA has only approved dextromethorphan in a cough syrup with specific labeling," he says. "This was not sold in the proper formulation, and we will be investigating who sold it to them." But it is extremely difficult to track who is selling the drugs and where they are located. "New sites pop up every day," McGinnis says.
The Peddie students bought the drug using a computer supplied by the school. "They have free access to the Internet," says Peddie's James, a policy that she says will not change. "We give them laptops, and we ask them to sign an agreement that they will use them responsibly." Though the four students were released from the hospital the day after they took the drug with no apparent permanent injuries, none of them will be returning to the school in the fall.
With Carolyn Kleiner
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