US CHPA warns of cough medicine abuse by teenagers

The US Consumer Healthcare Products Association has rounded on the "troubling trend of teenagers taking vast amounts of otherwise safe medicines, both prescription and over-the-counter, to get high." The Washington DC-headquartered group issued its warning following the publication, in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, of a report on the abuse of over-the-counter cough medicines containing dextromethorphan by teenagers in California.

Linda Suydam, president of the CHPA, said that the group "strongly agrees with the report's conclusion of increasing awareness and education among health care providers, manufacturers and retailers." She added that the "CHPA supports many retailers' efforts to prevent the sale of dextromethorphan-containing medicines to those under the age of 18."