In recent years, a growing and potentially life-threatening trend known as Robo tripping, the abuse of over-the-counter cough and cold medications, has emerged among America’s youth. Nearly 10 percent of American teens have admitted to getting high on cough medication containing a synthetic drug, dextromethorphan (DXM), which produces a hallucinogenic high when taken in large quantities. Children as young as age 9 age have admitted to Robo tripping, because the active ingredients are cheap, legal, and readily available without a prescription.
“Consuming large amounts of drugs containing DXM can have a variety of serious and very dangerous side effects on a child’s short- and long-term health, ranging from hallucinations to loss of motor control, and even death,” said Michael H. Entrup, M.D., of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). “It’s especially important for parents to be aware of what their kids are doing during the break.”
DXM, the active ingredient in cough medications that is abused when children Robo trip – also referred to as Robo, Skittles, Dex and Tussin – is available in more than 125 medications, including well-known brands. To curb this type of drug abuse, the ASA says parents should actively monitor for possible signs of Robo tripping, which can include:
• An unusual medicinal smell on your child.
• Empty or missing cough and cold medicine bottles.
• An unexplainable disappearance of money from the house.
• A sudden change in your child’s physical appearance, attitude, and sleeping and/or eating habits.
• Questionable or unexpected packages arriving in the mail addressed to your child.
• Visits by your child to pro-drug websites.
Parents can help protect their children from DXM abuse by:
• Educating your child about the dangers of drug abuse.
• Controlling access to cough and cold medicines (which may include locking your medicine cabinet).
• Keeping your own medications out of the reach of your child.
• Familiarizing yourself with – and not stockpiling – medicines that contain DXM.
• Actively checking your credit card statements.
• Monitoring your child’s Internet use.
Please visit http://www.LifelinetoModernMedicine.com for more information about Robo tripping, what you need to be aware of as a parent or family member to prevent it, and how to protect your child from this dangerous type of drug abuse.