With the colder winter months come holiday cheer, family gatherings and (for youth) a break from school. As many of us are very aware, substance abuse doesn’t take time off for the holidays. In fact, excessive drinking and the consumption of dangerous substances may even heighten during the holiday season due to peaked emotions or just sheer boredom among youth.
Today, experts are seeing more and more unconventional substances emerging as a threat to our youth. In addition to “traditional” street drugs like marijuana, meth and ecstasy, add to that list some of the most ordinary household products. Get educated on the potential dangers of simple items like cooking spices, hand sanitizers and adolescent cough syrup, parents should know and how to prevent tragedy.
Home Medicinal Products Becoming a Threat: Why Cough Syrup?
It may seem strange that you are reading an article, not about heroin abuse, but adolescent cough syrup and what parents should know. That being said, times have changed immensely. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is that we all become aware of these new, emerging issues and take necessary care to keep ourselves and our families safe.
According to the Monitoring the Future survey conducted in 2011 by the University of Michigan, an estimated 5.3% of American high school seniors have abused adolescent cough and cold medicines like Delsym, Robitussin and Vicks. These over-the-counter medicines contain dextromethorphan which works by suppressing the part of the brain that causes coughing. Excessive consumption of the chemical produces hallucinogenic and euphoric effects.
Teens abusing cough syrup generally consume 12-75 times the recommended dose of the drug, the repercussions of which are a scary list of adverse effects: nausea and vomiting, fever, hypertension, dizziness, bloodshot eyes, blurred vision, shallow breathing, hallucinations, rapid heart rate/raised blood pressure, muscle spasms and gastrointestinal problems.
Dextromethorphan can be life threatening if mixed with other drugs, alcohol or certain foods.
Although some states have identification or doctor permission requirements for the purchase of couch medicines, these products are generally very easy to obtain.
Underlying Causes for Substance Abuse
The advent of synthetic designer drugs and prescription pills has changed the face of substance abuse and addiction as well as its treatment. Untreated underlying causes for substance abuse can lead to excessive consumption of alcohol or use of marijuana, cocaine, meth, synthetic drugs (K2/Spice or Bath Salts), prescription pills and even miscellaneous household products. No matter the chemical dependency, any combination of unwanted emotions can lead to drug and alcohol abuse, such as:
Depression
Anxiety or Nervousness
Boredom
Anger
Fear
Additional Potentially Hazardous Substances Around the House
Other unsuspecting items for parents to watch for include hand sanitizer, air conditioning Freon gas and even nutmeg.
Unaddressed emotional conditions can lead to substance abuse, in that a drug abuser will use any substance as an escape from a situation. This applies to the teen who feels anxious to fit in, as well as the adult who is frustrated with life. Whether an individual is abusing marijuana, heroin or adolescent cough syrup—these are indications of underlying mental and emotional issues.
Narconon advises with so many drug threats in the home that drug prevention and education for youth be done by parents and in school. Kids have to be educated on the dangers of adolescent cough syrup abuse and the abuse of other household items.
If a problem does exist immediate help should be gotten for this. To get more information on this topic contact Narconon now by calling 800-468-6933.