Declines in OTC abuse
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The National Institute on Drug Abuse's 2008 Monitoring the Future survey of teenage drug use shows a drop in dextromethorpan-containing OTC cough medicine abuse by 8th- and 12th-graders, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association says Dec. 11. CHPA President Linda A. Suydam notes the trade group and OTC cough medicine makers "are engaged in a multi-pronged public health education campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of medicine abuse." CHPA also supports enacting a federal law to bar consumers younger than 18 from purchasing DXM OTCs (1"The Tan Sheet" Nov. 3, 2008, In Brief). The University of Michigan, which conducts the survey, says campaigns against DXM misuse "have proven somewhat successful, though certainly not entirely so.