When Patty Walker found out that her 14-year-old daughter and seven friends were taking over-the-counter cough medications as recreational drugs, she was alarmed and frustrated.

“One of her friends slipped up and came out with it,” she said. “They shouldn’t be doing that stuff.”

She said the group was taking Coricidin Cough, Cold and Congestion, or “triple c’s” as they called it. It is a red gelcap, and costs about $5 or more for 20 of them.

The recommended dosage consists of 1-2 tablets. Walker said in the group her daughter was in, some were taking more than 10 of them at a time.

“She said something about it feeling like acid,” Walker said. “She’s never taken acid that I know of, so I don’t know how she’d know to say that, but she said it’s like you’re out of the world or something.”

Walker’s daughter and her friends reported this to be something other minors in Richmond County are doing as well.

Medical Center Pharmacy Pharmacist Jerry Williamson said he’s heard of the phenomenon before.

“They call it ‘skittling’,” Williamson said. “It’s supposed to have hallucinogenic effects.”

‘Skittling’ is a reference to the fact the pills look like Skittles brand candy.

He explained that Coricidin is the medication most people use to get these side-effects, but the active ingredient causing them is found in other medications as well.

“The active ingredient that actually gets them high is dextromethorphan, and that’s in just about every cough medicine,” Williamson said. “If you take too much, you could actually have an overdose.”

Richmond County Schools officials are not aware of any reports of students abusing these medications at school, RCS Public Information Officer Ashley Simmons said.

She cited the policy of the school system concerning narcotics, alcohol and other mind-altering substances, requiring principals to report any student who has used or possessed prohibited substances to law enforcement.

“An appropriate consequence for a student who has been found to have sold or otherwise transmitted prohibited substances is presumed to be suspension for the remainder of the school year,” the policy states.

It goes on to say that depending on the circumstances, a student can be expelled permanently or the superintendent may assign the student to an alternative program.

On the website www.dxmstories.com, people share their experiences with the abuse of dextromethorphan.

One man named Shawn shared his story.

“The first time I took it, I couldn’t even walk,” Shawn said. “But I liked the way it made me feel. I liked that I didn’t feel normal. I thought it made me a totally relaxed-type person, but my friends and family said I was off-the-wall, I was actually insane.

“I noticed that I was doing anything that I wanted to do. I didn’t care about anybody else, all I cared about was me and my drug,” he recounted.

The website listed the side effects of high dosages of dextromethorphan, to include confusion, dizziness, double or blurred vision, slurred speech, impaired physical coordination, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, rapid heart beat, drowsiness, numbness of fingers and toes and disorientation.

Another testimonial is given by a female, 24-year-old Shannon.

“I became promiscuous - DXM made me lose touch with reality,” she said. “I didn’t care about anything. I didn’t even care if I died. I thought my reasons for doing it were positive and I thought it did all these great things but that was a deception of the drug itself, because if you looked at my life from a realistic point of view – my life was going down the tubes.”

Coricidin has a graphic on its box advertising the website www.StopMedicineAbuse.org, which discusses the abuse of products containing dextromethorphan.

“Recent studies among middle and high school-aged kids across the country demonstrate a trend in substance abuse among teens: the intentional abuse of otherwise beneficial medications, both prescription and over-the-counter to get high,” the website reads.

Williamson said most drugstores require picture identification and only sell them to people who are 18 and over.

“Anybody who seems suspicious, we just don’t sell it to them,” Medical Center Pharmacy Manager Greg Marks said. “You know, if they’re showing up over and over again, and wanting to buy four or five bottles at the same time, that something isn’t right.”

He said his pharmacy has encountered abuse of these substances.

“There was one guy, he always had a story about how he needed some cough medicine,” Marks said. “If something’s that wrong with you, you need to go to the doctor.”

He added that parents need to be aware of medication abuse and monitor what is in their medicine cabinet.

“What you consider to be fairly benign can be abused if someone wants to do it - prescription and over-the-counter,” Marks said.

“I wasn’t aware they did this before I caught them,” Walker said. “Now, they’ve got another one called 411 that they’re using, and I know they can drink cough syrup, too.”

She said one of the friends in her daughter’s circle is actually old enough to go buy the medications, making her question whether putting it behind the counter and/or requiring that an individual is 18 to purchase it will keep it out of the hands of minors.

“It does effect kids, I think they need to take it off the shelves,” she said. “Right now, they can just get somebody who’s 18 to buy it for them.”

According to the Consumer Health Products Association (CHPA), over-the-counter cold and cough medications represented an over $3.6 billion industry in 2008. Far and away, these were the highest sales figures for any category of over-the-counter products.

On their website, the CHPA cited a study conducted in 2004 at Northwestern University stating the use of over-the-counter medications saves the United States healthcare system and the economy $4.75 billion a year.

The CHPA also cited a study conducted in 2001 by Roper Starch Worldwide, stating that 77 percent of Americans take over-the-counter medications to treat common, everyday ailments.

The Roper Starch study also found 95 percent of American adults read directions before using an over-the-counter medication the first time, 89 percent read labels to find which over-the-counter medications are the appropriate ones to take and 91 percent read about possible side effects and interactions with other medications.

On www.stopmedicineabuse.org, it says that dextromethorphan is a safe product when taken as directed, but can be dangerous if abused.

The website said the ingredient is found in well over 100 products, including cold and cough medications packaged as Alka-Seltzer, Dimetapp, Robitussin, Tylenol and others.

It lays out a four-pronged plan for parents to raise awareness about this behavior and prevent it.

The website asks parents to learn about the abuse of these products, share the information they’ve learned with others, safeguard their home by storing these medications safely and monitor teens’ internet activities to see if they are visiting sites that promote this as a safe way to alter consciousness.

For a mother who is trying to keep her daughter off of drugs, it was disquieting to find out it’s not only illicit drugs one has to worry about.

However, Walker said at the very least she wanted to give other parents a head’s up by sharing her story.

“I would like to have other parents aware of what these kids are doing, and stop them from doing it,” Walker said.