Cough syrup: A popular drug among Mexican teenagers

A simple jar of cough syrup, sweets, and soda may easily be turned into a powerful drug that is highly addictive, extremely cheap, and easy to acquire, since all these ingredients can be bought without prescription at convenience stores, drug stores, and even gas stations .

The “Purple Drank,” also known as “Lean Sizzurp,” “Lean,” or “Purple Drink,” became popular last year in the United States , though several cases have been reported in Mexico as well, where it has become a trend among teenagers.

To elaborate purple drank, teenagers use cough syrups containing codeine and dextromethorphan (also called DXM), which causes them to lose their balance.

This is one of the 500 new psychoactive drugs that are created each year around the globe. They are made out of substances that can be bought in the legal market, though as they are refined or ingested, they may produce negative effects such as extreme aggression. When consumed by teenagers, this drug makes them prone to consuming other psychoactive substances such as cocaine.

During a conference at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City, Raúl López-Arnau , a neuropharmacology investigator at the University of Barcelona , explained that these psychoactive drugs are made out of legal substances found in the market, as are other potentially dangerous products such as bath salts, fertilizer, research products, and energizing substances that can be acquired at convenience stores and even gas stations.

One of said substances is methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) , which used to be sold in the United States as bath salts . This drug causes users to become extremely aggressive, which is why it is often called a “cannibal” or “zombie” drug .

In 2012 , a man in the United States became intoxicated with said substance and ended up attacking a person and biting off 75% of his face .

In places such as the United States and some European countries, the most “common” drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, and amphetamines are usually very expensive and difficult to obtain, which is why psychoactive and home-made drugs have become extremely popular among young people.

Furthermore, given the decline in purity for these substances, consumers look for other options, such as the so-called “designer drugs,” which usually cost between USD$10 and $15 a gram .

When some domestic ingredients cease to be available, consumers are easily able to order them online, where distribution is faster.

Given their reduced purchasing power and long leisure time, teenagers are particularly vulnerable to this type of drug.

On the short term, the effects of these drugs are: Acute intoxication, serotonin syndrome, mind alterations –restlessness, agitation, confusion, disorientation, anxiety, and hyperactivity-, fever, increased heart rate, diarrhea, vomit, sweating, pupil dilation, and neuromuscular conditions such as tremors, muscle spasms, rigidity, excessive reflexes, and lack of motor coordination .

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