cannabisnews.com: Auction of Cough Drug Probed 





Auction of Cough Drug Probed 
Posted by FoM on May 28, 2000 at 07:08:42 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Washington Post
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the online auction of a cough medicine ingredient that left four boarding school students hospitalized.The Internet auction operator, eBay Inc., said Friday it will cooperate with authorities and provide the names of sellers, bidders and buyers. 
An eBay spokesman said the company found five online sales of the drug in the past month, but he did not know if the students were among the buyers.The drug, dextromethorphan hydrobromide, or DXM, is a common ingredient in over-the-counter cough medicines, but in large quantities, it can produce a hallucinogenic high and cause vomiting, unconsciousness and, in some cases, death.The four 17-year-olds were hospitalized Tuesday night after one was brought to the school nurse's office disoriented and vomiting. A boy in the same condition was later found in his room, and another student found two unresponsive girls behind a nearby church and flagged down a police car, Peddie School spokeswoman Susan James said.James said students told paramedics the victims had taken DXM that had come from eBay, and a bag of white powder was found in the boy's room.All four students have recovered and will probably leave the Peddie School, in Hightstown, which has a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol, James said.The FDA allows DXM to be sold in over-the-counter cough suppressants as long as the product includes instructions for safe use, said Thomas McGinnis, director of pharmacy affairs for the agency.It is not approved for bulk sales to the public, and the FDA is trying to determine who was selling it, where it originated and whether proper dosage information was included, McGinnis said. Offenders could face criminal charges.EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said two new entries offering DXM were removed this week because the drug may be considered a controlled substance, and the auction site does not permit the posting of illegal or prescription drugs. Sunday , May 28, 2000 ; A18 © 2000 The Washington Post Company Related Web Sites:Erowid DXM Vaulthttp://erowid.org/chemicals/dxm/dxm.shtmlErowid DXM Vault : DXM FAQ, by William Whitehttp://erowid.org/chemicals/dxm/faq/dxm_faq.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on May 28, 2000 at 13:53:41 PT
Theres a saying
Where books are burned people are burned too.
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on May 28, 2000 at 10:07:25 PT:
Getting an early start on the Anti Meth Bill
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the online auction of a cough medicine ingredient that left four boarding school students hospitalized. The Internet auction operator, eBay Inc., said Friday it will cooperate with authorities and provide the names of *sellers, bidders and buyers*. (emphasis mine)Anybody till harboring the idea of guaranteed privacy under the law? (BTW, it was the FDA who BURNED the books of one Dr. Wilhelm Reich, who had come up with a radically new idea concerning psychology. And you probably only thought the book burnings happened only in Deutschland, nicht wahr?) 
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