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One of the worst fears of parents is that their child is abusing drugs and alcohol. Ever since the eruption of the 1960s drug counterculture, each succeeding generation faces this problem. Many of today’s parents were tempted in their youth with drug experimentation, so they are familiar with the most recognizable threats. They know about alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin; the substances disguised with multiple slang names, passed around at parties and sold on street corners. But too many parents don’t see what is literally in their faces when teens abuse household substances, over-the-counter (OTC) medications and prescription medications.

How bad has it gotten? Teens are now abusing cough medication, prescription pain medication, stimulants, tranquilizers and inhalants, all products they can access from their own homes. Users can be a group of friends trying to get high, a stressed student using stimulants for late night exam cramming, or a depressed teen using tranquilizers to forget the pain. Ritalin, OxyContin and Vicodin are some of the most commonly abused substances.

Users of OTC cough syrups are attracted to an ingredient known as dextromethorphan, or DXM. DXM gives the user a hallucinogenic effect when consumed excessively, but it can also cause permanent brain and bodily damage and death. Another commonly abused ingredient in cold and allergy medications is pseudoephedrine, which is necessary to create methamphetamine. Many pharmacy stores record the names and other personal information of customers who purchase any product containing pseudoephedrine. As with traditional street drugs, OTC and prescription medications are even more dangerous when mixed with alcohol.

Inhalants are another potential source of substance abuse. These are the numerous products with legitimate purposes that users inhale or sniff to get high. Aerosol spray dispensers, glue, correction fluid, nail polish remover and cleaning fluid are just some of the products that young people have inhaled to get high.

As parents, it is vital that you include these products as you discuss the dangers of drug abuse with your children. Do not leave it up to the schools or anyone else. Know your children, their activities, their friends and their friends’ parents. Sudden changes in your child’s behavior, appearance, friends, appetite or school performance are all possible warning signs of substance abuse. You should also know what items are in your medicine cabinet and kitchen cabinet, and keep track if any item seems to be depleted for no reason. If you have further questions, look up drug prevention programs online or in your community. They can provide you with plenty of resources to protect your child’s life.

A man from New York state admitted here Wednesday that he has sold an illegal hallucinogenic cough medicine ingredient to St. Louis-area residents and across the country over the Internet.

Christopher Schraud, 22, pleaded guilty in federal court in St. Louis to one count of selling a misbranded drug. That case involved a Dec. 13, 2005, sale of 250 grams to a St. Charles County customer.

Schraud faces up to 16 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

He acknowledged providing dextromethorphan hydrobromide, or DXM, to customers in St. Louis, St. Louis and St. Charles counties and Crawford County in 2005 and 2006.
DXM is an ingredient in some cough and cold medicines that causes euphoria and hallucinations if taken in large doses. It also can cause brain damage, seizures, irregular heartbeats and death.

Schraud admitted that he bought DXM in 25-kilogram plastic barrels from a New Jersey chemical company that got it from India. Schraud repackaged it in plastic bags and sold it in sizes as small as 0.1 gram through his website.

He also admitted that he should have known that some of his customers, who used home addresses or post office boxes and had e-mail accounts containing names like "mushroommuncher" and "smokecrackhailsanta," were ingesting the drug for its euphoric effect, according to court documents and testimony.

U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said the customers weren't trying very hard to hide their intent.

The DXM was not manufactured for human use or in compliance with Food and Drug Administration requirements, prosecutors said.

Hanaway said investigators believe that Schraud sold more than 150 kilos online to customers numbering in the "high hundreds" or "low thousands."

Schraud's lawyer, Steve Welby, said the number wasn't that high.

Welby said Schraud's website had a warning that the DXM was to be used only for legitimate purposes, like scientific research, and that he did have research customers. Customers also had to fill out a form listing a legitimate scientific use.

Schraud was running the business out of his father's house in Pleasant Valley, N.Y.

"I think he started with the best of intentions, and things just went in the wrong direction," Welby said.

Investigators discovered Schraud's operation while investigating a man who made pills out of Schraud's DXM and sold them in East St. Louis-area clubs, telling people it was the drug Ecstasy.

Deaths have been linked to overdoses of DXM, but Hanaway said prosecutors do not suspect Schraud's sales of being connected to any.

A government study released last week found that about 3.1 million Americans ages 12-25, or about 5 percent, had used over-the-counter cough and cold medicines to get high at least once. That number is comparable to use of LSD and higher than that of methamphetamine, the National Survey of Drug Use and Health found.

DXM abuse has prompted Congress to try to restrict bulk sales.