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Press Release

Committee Approves Upton’s “Cough Syrup” Bill to Save Kids’ Lives
Bill now heads to the House floor for consideration - Measure will ban the bulk sale of cough syrup ingredient commonly abused by kids which has resulted in deaths across the country

WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Committee today approved Congressman Fred Upton’s (R-St. Joseph) bipartisan legislation to crack down on the bulk sale of dextromethorphan (DXM), an ingredient of cough syrup that kids are abusing to get high.  Upton and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) coauthored the Dextromethorphan Distribution Act of 2007 (H.R. 970) which makes it illegal to distribute unfinished DXM to a person or company not registered with the FDA and will help prevent the abuse of this drug, which has resulted in deaths across the country.  This bipartisan legislation passed the House in 2006.  The measure, which passed the Energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote, now heads to the floor of the House for consideration.

“As a parent of two teenagers, I have been alarmed for quite some time by the number of teens abusing cough syrup and pure DXM to get a high,” said Upton.  “Kids are under the false impression that getting high off of DXM is harmless since it is an ingredient in cough syrup.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Our kids are playing a game of Russian roulette each time they get high off of DXM - sooner or later, someone dies.  As it currently stands with the Internet, DXM is only a click of a mouse away from arriving on our kids’ doorsteps.  This common sense legislation sends a strong message to those individuals who are illegally peddling this drug to our teenagers to stop at once or suffer severe consequences.  We are finally making real progress in putting an end to this practice”

DXM is a non-narcotic cough suppressant used in many over-the-counter cough and cold medicines.  While medicines containing DXM are used safely by millions of Americans each year, taken in extremely large quantities DXM produces a hallucinogenic high and can cause brain damage, seizures and death. 

Studies have shown that teenagers are obtaining unfinished DXM to get high by consuming large amounts of the powder or mixing it with alcohol. Recent research indicates that abuse of DXM has increased sharply in recent years.  According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 1 in 11 teenagers has used cough medicines to get high. 

There are a number of disreputable websites that provide “how-to” guides to get high off of DXM.  These sites include information recommending how much DXM to use, suggest other drugs to combine with DXM, provide instructions on how to extract DXM from cough medicines, promote drug abuse in general, and even offer for purchase a raw, unfinished form of DXM for snorting.

The Dextromethorphan Distribution Act of 2007 is endorsed by the American Pharmacists Association, Consumer Healthcare Products Association, Food Marketing Institute, National Association of Chain Drug Stores and The Partnership for a Drug Free America.

For more information, Upton encourages everyone to visit the website for the Partnership for a Drug Free America at www.drugfree.org.  The site has a feature entitled “What every parent needs to know about cough syrup abuse.”

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