Oregon teenagers may soon need a doctor’s prescription to buy over-the-counter cough syrup, as the Senate Health Committee appears poised to pass legislation ending sales to minors to snuff out “Robotripping,” in which people chug bottles of Robitussin to get high.
Senate Bill 743 is being pushed by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group for over-the-counter medication suppliers. California and Washington have already banned cough syrup sales for people under 18, and this group wants Oregon to be next.
“We support full and unfettered access for adults,” said Consumer Healthcare Products Association Vice President Carlos Gutierrez, who traveled to Oregon from Washington, D.C., in support of SB 743. “Unfortunately, a few years ago, the teen population began abusing it.”
Gutierrez said 6 percent of teenagers reported trying to get high from chugging on cough syrup. “Some drink the whole bottle.”
The use of cough syrup to get high started with Texas blues musicians in the 1960s, according to a group of pharmacy students blogging for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Cough syrup, and its active ingredient, dextromethorphan, or DXM, is most often abused by adolescent boys and it has nicknames such as Skittles and Poor Man’s PCP.
A 30 milliliter dose is the recommended amount to suppress a cough, but people looking to get high drink 100 to 600 milliliters, which can produce euphoria and hallucinations. When that’s not enough, 1500 milliliters of dextromethorphan can create dissociation and at even higher doses, the drug can send people into a coma or death.
The Oregon Nurses Association also supports SB 743, and in written testimony, Catie Theisen asked that the bill include an educational campaign to raise awareness of teenage abuse of cough syrup.
“According to the annual Monitoring the Future survey of eighth, 10th and 12th graders, abuse of dextromethorphan decreased by approximately 35 percent after the Consumer Healthcare Products Association began a robust abuse mitigation campaign in conjunction with prescription age limits,” she wrote.
John C. Powell, lobbyist for the products association, said the bill would be amended to provide pharmacies with information on the range of products that include dextromethorphan.
Under SB 743, retailers who sell dextromethorphan products to minors can be fined up to $250 for repeated offenses. Underage teens caught purchasing cough syrup with the active ingredient can be fined $50 for repeat offenses.
Chris Gray can be reached at [email protected].
