Teens try cough medicine for a high

Even middle schoolers are abusing the drugs with alarming effects.

From the LA Times. 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 (Recent news) 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." Read more here.