Instructions on Internet: narcotics from cough mixture by means of extraction

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Highly dangerous instructions are spreading on the internet on ways of using the prescription-free cough syrup Resilar for the purpose of getting intoxicated.
      From Resilar one can extract dextromethorphan (DXM), which, especially in high doses, is an extremely potent and dangerous narcotic.
      On several Internet chat sites used by Finnish young people one can find stories involving experiences of the use of DXM and even instructions on how to manufacture it. Some of the youth also drink Resilar as it is, with the result of getting seriously wasted and acquiring a nasty dose of diarrhoea to go with it.
     
In Denmark, an over-the-counter cough mixture called Dexofan and similar to Resilar was made into a prescription medicine at the end of April.
      The fact that six people in Denmark had died of DXM overdoses between 2001 and 2006 contributed to the decision.
      According to the National Agency for Medicines, at least for now turning Resilar into a prescription drug is not under consideration.
      “The idea has been to keep at least one prescription-free cough mixture with a concrete suppressing effect on the cough reflex. This is still the safest of all such options”, says Erkki Palva, head of department at the National Agency for Medicines.
      In 2000 and 2003 three people died in Finland as a result of using DXM together with other narcotics.
      According to Professor Erkki Vuori, of the University of Helsinki Department of Forensic Medicine, after 2003 there have been no fatalities in Finland as a result of abuse of DXM.
      Experts do not believe the use of Resilar as an intoxicant is particularly widespread or problematic in Finland.
     
The substance is being monitored by the National Agency for Medicines, and on occasion the Poison Information Centre has been contacted with regard to use of Resilar as an intoxicant.
      The agent that causes diarrhoea if taken in large quantities was added to Resilar towards the end of the 1980s, when abuse of the product first surfaced.
      The authorities are aware that for some time now there have been instructions available on the Internet on how to extract DXM relatively easily from Resilar.
      “Some of the available information is highly dangerous, and some just sheer myth”, establishes Dr James Boyd of the Emergency Medical Service of the Helsinki University Central Hospital.
     
When used as a recreational drug, DXM causes a state of intoxication with psychedelic effects. It can form a strong psychological dependency. Some individuals may be over-sensitive to DXM, and for them its use can be life-threatening.
      Large doses and prolonged use have serious ill-effects, such as permanent brain damage.
      The non-medical use of Resilar has been popular especially among the young because of its ready availability as an over-the-counter remedy.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Exceptionally potent heroin blamed in two overdose deaths in Helsinki (25.4.2008)

Links:
  Dextromethorphan (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat