By Matthew Allen
The extensive preparation and resources required to “cook up” crystal meth is leading some people, especially teenagers, to an alternate source for a meth-like high: cough and cold pills such as Sudafed and Coricidin HBP.
Last year, Congress passed The Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005, which has placed restrictions on accessibility of cough and cold pills and relegated them to mostly behind-the-counter status in pharmacies across the country.
These pills contain decongestants that give a stimulating effect, similar to a methamphetamine high, when taken in excess, said Dr. Joseph K. Miner, executive director of Utah County Health Department. They can make the user feel a variety of emotions including excitement, sedation or a feeling of energy.
Miner said Sudafed is the most common brand to steal because it can be used to cook meth, but other pills are becoming popular as well.
“Anything taken in excess can have an adverse effect on one”s body and mind,” Miner said.
Sudafed, Coricidin HBP and other cough and cold pills that are abused contain two key ingredients that provide a user with a meth-like high: dextromethorphan and acetaminophen.
“The problem with these pills is that they aren”t just mind-altering; if taken in excess, they can kill you,” Miner said.
Brett Johnson, a pharmacist at Kohler”s Grocery Store in Lehi, said they placed all their pills with dextromethorphan and acetaminophen behind the counter because they were stolen so often.
Johnson said teens will chew on the pill so the anti-histamine is released all at once, causing the high to come faster and with more potency.
“Some of the pills that they are stealing are chemically similar to meth, and so the high is similar,” Johnson said. “Anything with dextromethorphan is popular because that is the ingredient that gives the high.”
Rite-Aid has taken Sudafed off the shelves and put it behind the counter, but similar products, such as Coricidin HBP, are still available to the general public.
“It is actually a federal law now to keep Sudafed behind the counter,” said a pharmacist at Rite-Aid who would not give his last name. “We have to because it is one of the ingredients people use to make meth.”
He said dextromethorphan can also induce a high when taken in excess, but they are not required to keep all products that include that ingredient behind the counter.
“It is something that people abuse, but we don”t have to take it off the shelves – yet,” he said.
