A new drug trend finds youth in our community abusing cough suppressants to get high. Reports are coming from parents and school officials. The trend reflects a growing national usage rate that includes three teen deaths.

Young people are ingesting cough syrup or pills at three to ten times the recommended dosage. Some users drink cough syrup undiluted or mixed with soda pop. Others soak marijuana in the syrup. Some young people extract a free-base, crystalline form of Dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DXM) from cough syrup by cutting it with solvents found in cigarette lighter fluid and other readily-available agents. Once the drug is isolated, users reportedly smoke, snort or ingest it.

DXM is one of the active ingredients in cough suppressants. When used as directed, it acts as an expectorant. In large doses, it can cause hallucinations, impaired judgment and out-of-body experiences.

Promethazine with Codeine is a pain-killing ingredient in some cough medications. Both physical and psychological dependency can result from its abuse. Insomnia, nausea, dizziness, agitation, anorexia, allergic reactions, depression, dilated pupils, high blood pressure, and psychotic episodes are also side effects.

Abuse of cough suppressants can also cause sexual dysfunctions, rashes, tachycardia (increased heart rate), fever, seizures, panic attacks and brain damage. Overdose deaths are possible. Mixing cough suppressants with alcohol or other drugs can also be deadly.

This new phenomena has introduced new words into our vocabulary. “Leaning” refers to the use of the drug because users lose equilibrium and appear to be “leaning” when standing or walking. “Triple C” is slang for Coricidin Cough & Cold preparation. “Robo Fire” refers to the dangerous practice of first using cough syrup and then huffing vapors from lighter fluid.

Part of the reason for the increasing use of cough remedies appears to be that they are:

- cheap,

- easily available,

- perceived as safe,

- promoted heavily on pro-drug websites. Ì

~ www.prn2.usm.my/mainsite/bulletin/sun/1996/sun40.html

In 2003, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary as an organization dedicated to preventing the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by young people.

We will mark this milestone event during this October’s Red Ribbon Drug Prevention Month.

Please mark your calendars now. You are invited to attend a luncheon on Thursday, October 9, 2003, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Westside Room at the Westside Community Conference Center, 3534 South 108 Street, Omaha, Nebraska.

At that time, our organization will honor 25 individuals and/or organizations that have helped us “Light the Way with PRIDE”. We have been able to educate and advocate for drug-free children because so many people have cared and have pitched in. It is time to recognize these inspirational examples.

A nomination form for these awards is located on page 4 of this newsletter. We invite you to nominate as many people or organizations as you would like. You may duplicate the form or call our office at 402-397-3309 for more blanks. A nomination form is also located on our website at www.pride.org.

Please fill out the nomination form and return to our office by June 13, 2003. A special volunteer committee will review the forms and select the honorees.

Make plans now! October is Red Ribbon Drug Prevention Month. The entire month is set aside to remind the public that there is much we can do to reduce the devastating toll drugs take, especially on youth.

The Kick-Off Walk and Rally will be held at Heartland of America Park, 8^th and Douglas Streets, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, September 28, 2003. There will be games, booths, music, food, prizes, contests and lots of fun for the whole family.

Please make plans now. All individuals, groups, bands and drill teams are invited to participate in the walk. Your youth group can sponsor a booth, game or activity for younger children.

A year-long study of two Oregon high schools found that drug-tested students were four times less likely to use drugs than their non-tested peers.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University compared drug use among student athletes at two high schools in Oregon. At one school, all student athletes are subject to random drug testing, while at the other, testing is not conducted.

The study found that at the school with the random drug testing, 5.3% said they were using illegal drugs by the end of the school year. At the school with no drug testing, 19.4% of the athletes said they use illegal drugs.

“The differences between the schools were dramatic,” said Dr. Linn Goldberg, a lead researcher in the study.

~ Associated Press, December 30, 2002

On April 30, 2003, President Bush signed the federal Protect Act that included many child protection provisions. One of those protections should help address dangerous, drug-related RAVE dance parties.

This Rally is a great opportunity for parents and others to talk to children and renew their commitment for drug-free children and communities.

An alarming trend seems to be developing in recent years in the midlands. Celebrating the end of the school year has often become the time to have an “end of the year” unsupervised party. Many of these parties offer alcohol or other drugs for use by students.

Since school often is dismissed early on the last day of the school year, students organize a party at someone’s home or cabin where parents will not be present. The purpose of the party is not only to celebrate the end of the school year, but also to have one last time together before friends go separate ways for the next few months.

Schools rarely know about the parties. Parents often do not understand the scope of the danger involved.

This new custom may or may not be related to Senior Skip Day. This traditional day involves seniors planning a day when all “skip” school the same day and meet for a party. The site is usually someone’s cabin or an area near rivers or campsites. Alcohol and other drugs are nearly always available all day long. Again, schools usually do not know about the parties. Again, parents rarely understand the scope of the danger involved.

In recent years both of these types of unsupervised parties have resulted in tragedy. One “last day of school” party resulted in a young teen driving while intoxicated and killing a young father and injuring his daughter. This year a senior boy was allegedly killed by a senior girl driver leaving a Senior Skip Day party. News reports indicate that both seniors had been drinking.

Reports from throughout our area indicate that unplanned sex, rapes, fights, violence and other dangerous problems have also been associated with both of these types of parties.

On Saturday, May 31, 2003, restaurants in Douglas, Sarpy, Cass and other counties across Nebraska will go smoke-free for the day.

“Smoke-Free Dining Day” is being sponsored by several tobacco prevention coalitions throughout the state in conjunction with “World No Tobacco Day”.

All restaurants in three counties have been asked to go tobacco free for the day. Those responding receive a decal for their front window (shown at right). Each one will also be listed in the Thursday “Go” section of the Omaha World Herald on May 29.

A recent random survey of 400 Douglas County residents found overwhelming support for law enforcement checks of businesses to determine if they are complying with state laws that prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors. These compliance checks involve sending an underage individual into a business to see if the retailer sells tobacco to the minor. No attempt is made to deceive or trick the business.

The poll was conducted by Midwest Research Group from April 15-18, 2003, and was sponsored by the Metropolitan Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition.

The results found that:

The Kearney Nebraska Park and Recreation Department has posted signs at all athletic fields banning alcohol, tobacco and bad attitudes.

“We want people to be good role models, whether they are playing or watching the game,” states Kearney Park and Recreation Superintendent Scott Hayden. “We want people to know what the expectations are.”

The expectations are clear: No smoking, chewing tobacco, drinking or behaving obnoxiously on or around Kearney’s sports fields.

~ Kearney Hub

“City asks for voluntary tobacco ban in parks,” April 19-20, 2003.

The more worksites and public places that are smoke-free, the fewer opportunities there are that encourage children to use tobacco. Please join our efforts to work for smoke-free environments in our community. Ì

Before allowing your children to attend a rock concert, parents should understand the reality of what happens at concerts in our community.

A recent concert drew concerns from one attendee. Athena Ramos, President of Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition (MOTAC), attended the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on May 4. She was disappointed to observe that smoking of tobacco and marijuana was allowed. The Auditorium is posted as a smoke-free building.

“Young people were smoking right in front of security officers.” Ms. Ramos told PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. “I could have gone to a bar and breathed in less smoke.” She stated that drinking rules and weapons bans were enforced but the smoking ban was not.

Ms. Ramos also noted that larger concerts in other towns have been smoke-free. She stated she attended the Bon Jovi concert in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 21 and there was no smoking at that event.