Christy Crandell Speaks Against Cough Medicine Abuse

If you think that because your child doesn't take street drugs that they don't do drugs at all, think again. If you think you're safe because your bathroom medicine cabinet has over-the-counter cough medicine but isn't locked, think again. If you think your kids are not aware of cough medicine abuse, think again.

These are just three factors that a parent must be aware of when it comes to cough medicine abuse. Christy Crandell, a mom, author and drug-abuse awareness advocate, is with the Five Moms campaign to stop cough medicine abuse. Crandell knows first-hand of the problems that cough medicine abuse can cause.

The Five Moms campaign, launched May 9, is a grass roots campaign to promote awareness of the dangers of cough medicine abuse. (August has been named National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month). The Five Moms campaign is comprised of five moms from across the country - a pediatric nurse practitioner, an accountant, a D.A.R.E. officer, an educator, and an author - who've all come together to raise awareness to stop teens from abusing cough medicines.

The Five Moms are encouraging every parent to visit their web site, click on Tell a Friend and tell five people they know about cough medicine abuse.

Developed by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), which is the trade association that represents the leading makers of OTC cough medicines, Five Moms is an important step to raise awareness and promote prevention of cough medicine abuse. 

Gather also has a group dedicated to this purpose, http://fivemoms.gather.com Click the link HERE to join the Gather group.

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Recently, I spoke with Christy Crandell about her experience. 

"I have a son serving a 13-year sentence for crimes committed while high on dextromethorphan and marijuana," Crandell says. "This was a horrible tragedy. I had never heard about this problem before and we thought we were safe," Crandell says.

In a statement from the Five Moms web site, Crandell describes how she got involved with the campaign. She cautions against parents believing that cough medicine abuse won't happen in their family.

 "I always considered my family to be one thing: normal. We raised our children in Rocklin, California, a close-knit, suburban community. My husband Rick and I had a great relationship with our two sons, Ryan and Justin. As they were growing up, I worked from home as a medical transcriptionist, so I was able to stay closely involved in their lives. I was on their Little League board, ran the snack bar at their games, and volunteered at their school. We were a strong family that shared everything. So when our son Ryan, then 18-years-old, was arrested for armed robbery while high on over-the-counter cough medicine, shocked doesn't even begin to describe how we all felt...

"I had no idea that Ryan was abusing cough medicines to get high. In fact, I had never even imagined that cough medicine abuse was a possibility. Had I been more aware, perhaps I could have prevented Ryan from going down that path. Instead, Ryan, now 22-years-old, is serving a 13-year prison sentence in Folsom State Prison for actions he took while under the influence.

"Ryan's arrest was the most tragic thing that has ever happened to my family. I had put faith in the fact that my children were raised in a normal family and had a good life. I did everything I could as a parent to give them the love and support they needed. The one thing I hadn't done was educate myself on what dangers were out there. Had I known about the pressures my children were facing and had I been more open to the idea that drug abuse can happen to anyone, perhaps I could have helped Ryan steer away from that path."

This is a wake-up call to parents who, all too often, are in denial about the prevalence of dextromethorphan abuse, according to Crandell. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America has collected data that shows 2.4 million young people reported having abused dextromethorphan.  That translates to one in 10 young people.

Also shocking, according to Crandell, is the statistic, which cites that one in four young people personally know someone who has abused cough medicine. (I have spoken with several young people in this age category recently  - and, yes - they do know teens that've abused dextromethorphan.

Dextromethorphan is the active ingredient found in many over-the-counter cough and cold remedies. When used correctly, dextromethorphan-containing products have a 50-year history of being safe and effective. But when taken in extreme excess - sometimes 25-50 times the recommended dose - dextromethorphan can produce dangerous side effects.

The problem with dextromethorphan is that people abuse it in very high doses, often in combination with other substances, such as alcohol or other drugs. 

Crandell says that young people who abuse dextromethorphan often combine it with illicit substances. That is what makes dextromethorphan dangerous and difficult to control. 

Dateline NBC ran a story in 2004, which was recently reprinted on MSNBC Interactive, which told of two Illinois college students in 2003 who had taken numerous drug trips with dextromethorphan by mixing the powdered form with orange juice.

In September 2003, when Jonathan Frary of Peoria, Ill., didn't answer his dorm phone for several days, his father drove to the college to check up on him. The dorm maintenance man let the father into the dorm, and the father found his 22-year-old son lying dead, on the floor. This was the first recorded death in Illinois from dextromethorphan overdose.

The best solution is awareness. Parents, particularly mothers, (but both parents, really), must become actively involved and aware of what their children are doing, according to Crandell.

"The best thing is to educate other parents - if parents know about this type of abuse and talk to their kids about this, then right there - research shows there is a positive effect," Crandell says. 

"Kids whose parents have talked to them about drug and alcohol use are 50 percent less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. That is big right there - and the next step is to be attentive to what is in the medicine cabinet." And it is very important to share that knowledge with other parents, Crandell says - a step, she adds, that will help every parent know they're not alone.

According to Crandell, it is also important to monitor what teens do online. Teens can find information on web sites about where and how to obtain dextromethorphan and how much to take to get high. Web site calculators exist, Crandell says, that tell you how much to take for your body weight. Message boards exist that encourage teens to take dextromethorphan and other substances. With just a few quick clicks, I found some of these message boards myself.

Crandell adds that the Five Moms campaign encourages parents to place the computer in a main room of the house (not in the teen's bedroom or in a room not easily supervised) and to check the child's activity often.

"This is a common sense idea that applies to everything, Crandell says. No matter what age your child is, unlimited access to computers is not a good idea."

 "Mothers, in general, play an important part in the health of their whole family, Crandell says, "but as Moms, we're reaching out to other parents, making sure they are aware that this type of abuse is going on."

After her son was arrested, Crandell quit her job, started a web site and wrote a book, Lost & Found: A Mother and Son Find Victory over Teen Drug Addiction. Crandell  "made it [her] mission to share [her] story."

"I got my education the hard way, and it is my goal to ensure that other parents don't have to learn about cough medicine abuse the way that Rick and I did...I speak across the country to other parents, giving them the tools they need to avoid the tragedy that my family was forced to face.

"It is my hope that my work with the Five Moms campaign will show parents across the country that it's never okay to think "not my kid." I want parents to understand that this type of denial only leads to tragedy, and that cough medicine abuse has real consequences that can truly be life-altering. The greatest tool we, as parents, have to fight drug addiction is education, and I pray that other parents can receive it before learning the hard way."       

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Members of the Five Moms campaign:

Julie Bermant, pediatric nurse practitioner from Massachusetts  juliebermant.gather.com

Blaise Brooks, accountant from California blaisebrooks.gather.com

 
Christy Crandell, California mother of a former cough-medicine abuser  christycrandell.gather.com

Becky Dyer, D.A.R.E. officer and deputy sheriff from Kansas beckydyer.gather.com