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Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sean Bonyun
202-225-3761
March 4, 2009

Upton’s Bipartisan “Cough Syrup” Bill on Fast Track, Approved by House Committee
Bill now heads to the House floor for consideration - Measure will ban the bulk sale of cough syrup ingredient commonly abused by kids which has resulted in deaths across the country

WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Committee today approved Congressman Fred Upton’s (R-St. Joseph) bipartisan legislation to crack down on the bulk sale of dextromethorphan (DXM), an ingredient of cough syrup that kids are abusing to get high.  Upton and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) yesterday introduced the Dextromethorphan Distribution Act of 2009 (H.R. 1259) to help prevent the abuse of the drug by making it illegal to distribute unfinished DXM to a person or company not previously registered with the FDA or approved under federal or state law.  Larsen and Upton’s bipartisan legislation passed the House in both the 109th Congress (December 2006) and the 110th Congress (October 2007) but failed to clear the Senate.  The measure, which passed the Energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote, now heads to the floor of the House for consideration.

“Our kids are playing a veritable game of Russian roulette each time they get high off of DXM, and the consequences are deadly,” said Upton.  “Teen abuse of DXM is an urgent health matter, and I am pleased that this important measure is on the fast track, especially as more and more kids are abusing cough syrup each day. This legislation sends a strong message to those individuals who are illegally peddling this drug to our teenagers to cease at once or suffer severe consequences.  We must all be diligent in shattering the misconception  that getting high off of DXM is harmless since it is an ingredient in cough syrup.  The statistics do not lie - we must act now before abuse of DXM reaches epidemic proportions.” 

DXM is a non-narcotic cough suppressant used in many over-the-counter cough and cold medicines.  While medicines containing DXM are used safely by millions of Americans each year, when taken in extremely large quantities, DXM produces a hallucinogenic high and can cause brain damage, seizures and death. 

Studies have shown that teenagers are obtaining unfinished DXM to get high by consuming large amounts of the powder or mixing it with alcohol, and research indicates that abuse of DXM has increased sharply in recent years.  The Partnership for a Drug-Free America last week announced the findings of its 20th annual teen study which revealed nearly 7 percent or 1.7 million teens have used cough medicines to get high in the past year.  According to a report released last year by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), nearly  3.1 million children in the U.S. aged 12 to 25 (5.3 percent of this age group) have used over-the-counter cough and cold medicines to get high at least once. 

There are a number of disreputable websites that provide “how-to” guides to get high off of DXM.  These sites include information recommending how much DXM to use, suggest other drugs to combine with DXM, provide instructions on how to extract DXM from cough medicines, promote drug abuse in general and even offer for purchase a raw, unfinished form of DXM for snorting.

With research indicating that more kids than ever are abusing cough medicine, Upton and Larsen are hopeful the bill will finally gather enough support to become law.  For more information, Upton encourages everyone to visit the website sponsored by the Partnership for a Drug Free America at www.dxmstories.com. 

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