News

Supermarket Chain to Limit Access to Cough Medicine

Baltimore Sun - May 2007

Giant Food, a supermarket chain in Maryland and nearby states, announced a ban on selling cough products containing dextromethorphan (DXM) to people under 18, the Baltimore Sun reported.

DXM is a common ingredient in cough and cold syrups, lozenges, and pills. Products containing DXM include Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough Suppressant, Sucrets 8 Hour Cough Suppressant, and Vicks 44 Cough Relief, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Abuse of DXM can occur by concentrating the drug into powdered form or ingesting large amounts of the cough syrup. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration issued a warning in 2005 after five teenagers died in cases that may have been associated "with the consumption of powered DXM," according to the agency.  Hospitalizations associated with DXM have also been reported on Long Island, according to Newsday.

"It isn't someone taking a few more tablespoons or a couple more pills  - it's 25 to 50 times the recommended dose," said Elizabeth Funderburk, communications director for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the trade association for over-the-counter drug manufacturers.

The latest Monitoring the Future survey, released by the University of Michigan last December, reported that 4 percent of 8th-graders, 5 percent of 10th-graders, and 7 percent of 12th-graders said they used cough or cold medicines to get high.

Several states have considered legislation that would limit DXM sales to adults, but none have passed, according to Kevin Nicholson, vice president for pharmacy regulatory affairs for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

Other chain stores have restricted the sale of DXM, including Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, CVS, Target, Walgreens, and Brooks, according to Nicholson.  

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