Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jun 2005
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Heather Won Tesoriero, Staff Reporter
Section: B1
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

DRUG MAKERS MOVE TO HALT NEW CONTROLS ON COLD MEDICINES

Cold Medications Have Become A Headache For The Drug Industry.

Drug makers lost the battle with states that wanted to move "behind
the counter" all cold medications containing pseudoephedrine, which
can be used to make the illegal stimulant methamphetamine. Now, in a
different tactic, the drug industry is supporting states' efforts to
prevent minors from buying cold remedies that contain another drug
that sometimes is abused, dextromethorphan, but to allow the medicines
to remain in the store aisles. Dextromethorphan, familiarly called
DXM, is an ingredient in dozens of over-the-counter medications,
including Wyeth's Robitussin, Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol Cold & Flu
and Schering-Plough Corp.'s Coricidin HBP. Some teens have been
consuming large quantities of DXM products to get high and hallucinate
- -- often called "robotripping" (derived from Robitussin) or
"skittling." While the practice isn't new, it has gained attention in
the past year from a growing number of reports of teens overdosing.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about
DXM abuse. It said the warning was prompted by "5 recently reported
deaths of teenagers that may be associated with the consumption of
powdered DXM sold in capsules." An FDA spokesman said the agency is
investigating the illegal sale of the powdered form of DXM; the
spokesman wouldn't provide more details. Last year, DXM products
brought in $858.8 million in sales, according to market-data
researcher ACNielsen, and the drug industry doesn't want to see that
chunk of business move behind the counter with PSE. The industry
"suffered through these PSE issues for so many years," says Mary Ann
Wagner, vice president of pharmacy regulatory affairs for the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores. "When they saw DXM, they said,
'Never again' and are trying to get in front of it."

Toward that end, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which
represents makers of over-the-counter drugs, is taking action.

The trade group supports DXM bills pending in six states --
California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode
Island -- most of which seek to prohibit the sale of DXM products to
minors, while keeping the products on store shelves.

Unlike methamphetamine, which can be made from PSE, DXM itself isn't
illegal.

The trade group is also in discussions with members of Congress about
sponsoring federal legislation that would criminalize bulk sales of
DXM sold in bulk to non-FDA-registered entities.

The Internet has become a popular way for teens to buy the drug
remedies that contain DXM and learn about the effects of the drug.
Chris Fisher, a 19-year-old from Hillsborough, N.J., says he
discovered DXM and "robotripping" a few years ago while he was
searching the Internet for a drug he could "get easily." Mr. Fisher
says his weekend habit escalated to daily use, and that he would buy
- -- or steal -- the drug medicine from grocery stores and pharmacies.
"I was doing cough syrup every day and getting into trouble," he says.

For the past six months, Mr. Fisher has been in a residential
treatment program run by Daytop, a substance-abuse treatment
organization with services in four states.

The Consumer Healthcare Products trade association is also funding a
public-education campaign with the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America, a nonprofit drug-education group.

In the group's recent annual study, 9% of teens -- a total of 2.2
million -- reported using cough medications to get high. This was the
first time the organization included cough medicine in its poll, and
it did so in part because the industry expressed its concerns about
the potential for abuse, says Tom Hedrick, a director and a founding
member of the drug-education group.

In 2003 and 2004, the trade association's donations to the
drug-education partnership were nearly half a million dollars.

This year, it says it will donate $1 million -- placing it in the top
20% of the group's donors -- and all that money is earmarked for
prevention of abuse of cough and cold medications.

Among the tactics of the two groups, they have paid to drive keywords
on Internet searches to a Web site that features actual teens telling
cautionary tales about DXM abuse.

Though the site http://www.dxmstories.com was funded by the trade group and
developed by the drug-education partnership, the names of the
organizations aren't featured on the home page but discreetly placed on the
site's other pages.

The aim is for teens to find the site on their own and "not have them
see it as something concocted by the drug-abuse community," says
Virginia Cox, vice president of communications for CHPA. A portion of
the Web site aimed at parents and devoted to DXM facts was paid for by
the trade association. The two groups also are using print, TV and
radio ads to educate parents and teens about the prevalence and
dangers of DXM abuse, and it is also collaborating with the American
Academy of Pediatrics.

Industry efforts to block laws that have put products containing PSE
behind the counter crumbled when Pfizer Inc. introduced a
reformulated, non-PSE version of its Sudafed. Pfizer split from the
industry and backed state laws that effectively moved competing
products off the shelves. Drug makers say there is no chemical
reformulation option for DXM-based products. But soon there will be an
option that could make it more difficult to abuse them. Leiner Health
Products, which makes store-brand versions of over-the-counter
medications, recently said it would market dissolvable DXM strips.
Crystal Wright, a Leiner spokeswoman, says teens seeking to take mass
quantities of DXM "will have a very tough time of it with the strips,"
which will be sold in individual-dosage pouches.

Some retailers aren't waiting for laws to catch up to them. CVS
Corp.'s pharmacies won't sell Schering-Plough's Coricidin or the
store-brand equivalent to minors.

At Walgreen Co. stores, a spokeswoman says, cash registers block a
one-time purchase of more than three packages of Coricidin HBP, in
which DXM is the sole ingredient. Some Walgreen stores, the
spokeswoman says, have voluntarily placed Coricidin HBP behind the
counter.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin