Bainbridge Public Safety Investigative Unit wants parents to be aware of a new danger for your kids. "Skittles" is the nickname for Coricidin when taken as a drug.

Over the years, teens have made the unsettling discovery that they could get high by taking mass quantities of any of the multitude of over-the-counter medicines containing dextromethorphan (also called DXM). Found in tablets, capsules, gel caps, and lozenges, as well as syrups, dextromethorphan-containing products are labeled DM, cough, cough suppressant, or Tuss (or contain "tuss" in the title).

One major way teens are getting their DXM fixes is by taking "triple C" - Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold, which contains 30 mg of DXM in little red tablets. Users taking large volumes of triple C run additional health risks because triple C contains an antihistamine as well. The list of other ingredients - decongestants, expectorants, and pain relievers - contained in other Coricidin products and OTC cough and cold preparations compound the risks associated with DXM and could lead to a serious drug overdose.

Taking mass quantities of products containing DXM can cause hallucinations, loss of motor control, and "out-of-body" (disassociative) sensations.

Other possible side effects of DXM abuse include: confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision, dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, headache, lethargy, numbness of fingers and toes, redness of face, dry and itchy skin, loss of consciousness, seizures, brain damage, and even death.

Myth: Drinking is just a phase all kids go through; they’ll grow out of it.

Fact: Many don’t grow out of it. Those who start drinking before they’re 21 are more likely to drink more later in life versus those who do not drink until they are 21. And, they continue this pattern through their 20s.

And while we wait for them to “grow out of it”, they’re:

dying in car crashes (an average of eight American youth under age 21 die every day in alcohol-related crashes);
getting hurt in accidents such as falls, burns, and drowning;
contracting sexually transmitted diseases;
becoming teenage parents;
committing crimes (physical assault, sexual assault, vandalism, robbery, theft, homicide, etc.);
becoming physical and sexual assault victims; and
costing society a considerable amount of money.

About 45% of those who die in crashes, involving a drinking driver under the ages of 21, are people other than the driver.

About 5,000 youth under the age of 21 die annually as a result of alcohol-related injuries. 38% of those deaths involve car accidents, 32 percent result from homicides, and about 6 percent result from suicides.

Underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs
combined. More than 1,700 college students in the U.S. are killed each year--
about 4.65 a day—as a result of alcohol-related injuries.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of 15- to 20-year-old drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2005 had been drinking.