The Dangers of Coricidin

Dextromethorphan Hbr (DXM) is the active ingredient in many over-the-counter cough syrups and is capable of producing psychoactive effects in doses higher than four times the recommended dosage. DXM has recently gained notoriety as a new drug that has permeated suburban teen culture. It is relatively cheap, easy to procure due to its legal status and wide availability, and requires no conspicuous preparation in order to use. Despite the criticism of the media, DXM is not as harmful as it is made out so long as it is used moderately and responsibly. There are correct sources of DXM to use and incorrect sources, and the reason why there have been hospitalizations due to DXM are due to teenagers using improper sources. The most dangerous of these improper sources is Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold tablets.

The correct and safe source of DXM is in commercial cough preparations that ONLY contain Dextromethorphan Hbr as the active ingredient. The only way this ingredient can directly harm in normal recreational doses a user is if that user lacks a certain enzyme that converts DXM into its metabolite, DXO. About 5% of the Caucasian population lacks this enzyme, so although the lack of the enzyme poses a risk to the general DXM-using population, it is a relatively small risk. The only other risk associated with using purely Dextromethorphan Hbr is if one uses too much of it too frequently. DXM is toxic in extremely high doses, generally around 50 times the normal recommended medical dosage. However, hardly anyone can imbibe this much cough syrup or gelcaps without vomiting up the majority of it. Ingesting that much DXM would require drinking five or six 4oz bottles of cough syrup. Finally, there have been scientific studies that show that rodents when subjected to high amounts of DXM for long periods of time developed scarring of the brain known as "Olney's Lesions." Although these lesions can cause impaired brain functioning, there is no evidence to suggest that humans react the same way as rodents to high levels of DXM. Furthermore, the rodents were subjected to such high levels of DXM for extended periods that the risk becomes even less in the general DXM-using population.

The real risk associated with DXM use comes with inexperienced users (primarily teens) who take cough preparations that have active ingredients other than Dextromethorphan Hbr. These extra ingredients include guaifenesin (an expectorant used to loosen chest congestion) and pseudoephedrine (used to reduce inflammation and congestion). When taken in quantities higher than the recommended dose, these drugs can cause very dangerous side-effects such as tachycardia and bleeding from orifices. This is why Coricidin is so potentially dangerous to inexperienced users of DXM.

Coricidin is a popular source of DXM primarily because due to the fact that each caplet contains 30mg of Dextromethorphan Hbr as opposed to 15mg per teaspoon found in most over-the-counter cough syrups. This means that the user has to swallow fewer pills in order to reach the desired level of psychoactivity. However, Coricidin does not contain only DXM as an active ingredient, but also Chlorpheniramine Maleate. These ingredient, according to Erowid.org when taken in high doses can cause seizures, shortness of breath or troubled breathing, weakness, loss of consciousness, severe dryness of mouth, nose, or throat; bleeding from skin, mouth, eyes, rectum, and vagina; and possibly death. Coricidin is the leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths due to recreational DXM use in the general population.

Before the government gets radically involved in banning DXM from the shelves or scheduling the drug as a controlled substance, it is important that people be given the facts about Coricidin. Hospitalizations and deaths as a result of DXM deaths are not results of Dextromethorphan, but due to uninformed users and misinformation. It is not feasible to remove dextromethorphan from the shelves because it is such an important ingredient in cough syrups. Therefore it is much more important to give individuals the correct information concerning the risks associated with Coricidin rather than try and scare the population into a witch hunt on all DXM preparations or users.