Principal Investigator: William R. Miller, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator: Craig Noonan, Ph.D.
Funding Agency: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Following on clues that youth might be abusing dextromethorphan (DM) contained in over-the-counter medications, we constructed a survey for public school students. Rather than asking students about their own use of drugs, we asked whether they were aware of other students using various over-the- counter medications in order to get high. The survey list included actual medications that contain or do not contain DM, as well as fictitious medication names to control for over-reporting. Students reliably named DM-containing medications as drugs of abuse, relative to non-DM medications and fictitious names. There appears to be reason for concern that youth selectively abuse over-the-counter medications for their DM content.
Reference:
Co-Investigator: Craig Noonan, Ph.D.
Funding Agency: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Following on clues that youth might be abusing dextromethorphan (DM) contained in over-the-counter medications, we constructed a survey for public school students. Rather than asking students about their own use of drugs, we asked whether they were aware of other students using various over-the- counter medications in order to get high. The survey list included actual medications that contain or do not contain DM, as well as fictitious medication names to control for over-reporting. Students reliably named DM-containing medications as drugs of abuse, relative to non-DM medications and fictitious names. There appears to be reason for concern that youth selectively abuse over-the-counter medications for their DM content.
Reference:
- Noonan, C., Miller, W. R., & Feeney, D. M. (2000). Dextromethorphan abuse among youth. Archives of Family Medicine, 9, 791-792.
