Just say no

I've been carded for alcohol. I've been carded for gambling. I've even been carded for rated R movies.

But I've never been carded for cough syrup.

The other day, I was at the neighborhood Walgreens buying the generic brand of Robitussin DM for my cough when the cashier demanded to know my birth date. As I was uttering it, she asked me for my ID, which I produced. She studied my ID, gave it back and then rang up my cough syrup. "Do you need to be 18 to buy cough syrup?" I asked. She looked at me like I was a moron. "Yes."

I studied the ingredients of my Robitussin DM ("Wal-Tussin DM," actually). No codeine. No alcohol. No cocaine. So what the heck would a teenager do with cough syrup? I know you can make meth from Sudafed.

I did some research and one website stated:

Dextromethorphan is very often passed off as Ecstasy at clubs and Raves, it can also be found in many over the counter cold remedies such as Robitussin DM cough syrup. DXM produces hallucinations and a heavy "stoned" feeling in users but none of the desirable Ecstasy effects. DXM pills are wide-spread over the United States how ever it is usually misidentified as MDMA by users and police alike.

I did feel pretty mellow and sluggish today, like in a Keanu-Reeves-"Whoa"-kind of way. But have not been hallucinating. At any rate, I hope this entry doesn't spur people on to buy the DM to get high. It's not all that. Really.