Millions of Youth Misuse Cough and Cold Medicines
By Leslie Quander Wooldridge
 Parents may worry about their children’s access
to illicit drugs, but young people also misuse easily
acquired substances. About 3.1 million Americans age
12 to 25 (5.3 percent) have used over-the-counter (OTC)
cough and cold medicines to get high at least once
in their lifetimes, according to a new report from
SAMHSA’s Office of Applied Studies.
The report, Misuse
of Over-the-Counter Cough and Cold Medications among
Persons Aged 12 to 25, also reveals
that nearly 1 million people in that age group had
misused these OTC drugs in the past year. Specifically,
30.5 percent misused a NyQuil® product, 18.1 percent
misused a Coricidin® product, and 17.8 percent
misused a Robitussin® product in the past year.
 For lifetime use, newly analyzed data from SAMHSA's
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH) show the number of young people
who misused OTC drugs is comparable to those
who reported having tried LSD (3.1 million)
and is significantly greater than the
number who reported having tried methamphetamine
(2.4 million).
In addition, among people age 12 to 25 who had ever
misused OTC cough and cold medicines, 81.9 percent
also were lifetime users of marijuana.
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Educating Young People
SAMHSA recently introduced a pilot program to educate
consumers of all ages about proper disposal
of prescription drugs, in light of increased
use of these drugs among young adults.
(See SAMHSA
News online, November/December
2007.)
Because young people are misusing OTC and prescription
medications, SAMHSA Administrator Terry
L. Cline, Ph.D., noted that a national
response is necessary. “Members
of the medical community and parents
can help teach young people that OTC
drugs are not ‘safer’ to
misuse simply because they are legal
and have a legitimate purpose,” he said. “Misuse
of OTC drugs can have tragic consequences.”
More than 140 cough and cold medications available
without a prescription contain dextromethorphan (DXM),
a cough suppressant that generally is safe when taken
at recommended doses for medicinal purposes.
When taken in large amounts, however, DXM can produce
hallucinations or dissociative, “out-of-body” experiences
similar to those caused by the hallucinogens
phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine. SAMHSA data show
that the misuse of medicines containing DXM contributes
to thousands of patient visits to hospital emergency
departments. (See SAMHSA
News online, November/December 2006.)
Overdosing on many cough and cold medications can
result in serious, life-threatening reactions, including
blurred vision, loss of physical coordination, intense
abdominal pain, vomiting, uncontrolled violent muscle
spasms, irregular heartbeat, delirium, and death.
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To Order
SAMHSA’s annual NSDUH survey is the largest
of its kind and involves interviewing nearly 67,000
people from around the Nation, including almost 45,000
people age 12 to 25.
The full report, Misuse of Over-the-Counter
Cough and Cold Medications among Persons Aged 12
to 25, is
available for free download on SAMHSA’s Web site
at http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k8/cough/
cough.cfm.
For more information on OTC drug abuse among young
people, visit SAMHSA’s Family Guide Web site
at www.family.samhsa.gov/
get/otcdrugs.aspx. 
« See
Combating Teen Prescription Drug Abuse
« See
Decline in Illicit Drug Use by 8th Graders
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