or dxm. >> on dex, i feel like going -- >> reporter: health experts say it's become a national problem with 8% of all teenagers admitting they have tried it. 8,000 e.r. visits in 2008, up 74% in four years. symptoms can range from mild intoxication to a far more serious irregular heartbeat, seizure, loss of consciousness and brain damage. despite being an er nurse, misty never saw the signs that her 18-year-old son carl was abusing cough syrup. he died after mixing it with drugs. >> i noticed an empty bottle of cough syrup in the back seat of his car, but unfortunately by the time i had gotten to his room i discovered he had passed away during the night. >> reporter: today in washington, an fda panel heard testimony about the abuse of dextromethorphan. >> deo has reported to us increasing problems related to the drug's abuse. >> reporter: and whether cough medicine should require a prescription. but the cough medicine industry opposes that, insisting these medicines are very safe, abuse is low and harm from abuse is rare. millions of americans depend on the dozens of cough medicines th

an overdose of dex could lead to irregular heartbeat, seizures, even death.rgenc room visits related to dex abuse, jumped 70% between 2004 and 2008. the majority of the cases involved teenagers. >>> here we are, the day after monday night football -- two games on monday night football. that was interesting. incredible. i loved watching the ravens, we have those highlights coming up. ray lewis still has it. it's another nfl player who's the buzz of the town. clinton portis apologizing for comments he made on a radio show today. reie bush has a little more space left in his trophy case tonight. >>> every now and again something happens, especially in sports. where it occurred to me, actually, george michael -- there's some things that happen, you ought to keep your mouth shut. let other people talk about this. >> you agree? >> in fact i just told him that, lindsay. >> go ahead and talk about it. >> i think clinton portis is having one of those days. clinton portis says he will no longer be doing interviews, because of a firestorm he was involved with today. he'

next te use dex office.

the ingreed yaents that creates the high is dex.t's found in all sorts of products on dug store shelves. when you take a lot of it it can create a euphoria and it can also raise your body temperature, blood pressure and your heart rate and then if it's mixed with other drugs, it can kill you. dex-related emergency room visits increased more than 70% from 2004 to 2008 so the drug enforcement administration is asking for help. they want advice from the food and drug administration on whether to make products like nigh quill, tylenol cold medicine available by prescription only. some say this is going overboard. >> when you have inhale lant abuse four times higher, marijuana abuse many, many times higher compared to other drugs of abuse this is not the most serious threat facing a lot of families. >> reporter: makers say their products help millions of people and should stay over the counter and parents are the key to curbing abuse. >> many parents do not talk to their children but we doe no that parent that is do talk to their childre

videos that show teens engaging in what's called robotripping, or dexing. millions of teens are known to be abusing dxm, the active ingredient in many over the counter medicines. >> we have young people who are choosing to abuse medicines. that's the issue we've got to go after. >> reporter: for some, it's a cheap way to get high. in large doses, the drug can cause the sensation of being drunk. but there can be real consequences. dxm can be a gateway to other drugs. can cause changes in drigs, difficulty breathing a phat heartbeat. and in rare instances, death. last year, more than 8,000 people, mostly teens, were sent to the emergency room. james hunt has been using dxm to get high since he us was 17. >> you don't think about drugs being on the counter at walmart. you just walk in anywhere, like, in any city in the country, and get drugs. >> reporter: still, today, an fda advisory committee voted to keep the cough medicines available without a description, in keeping with the industry group position. the industry says the key is to educate parents withed a

anhydrous dex troes. we tracked it down at the warehouse of a local food distributor.ported from china and in massive quantities. >> if you're going to be buying for the large -- the huge scale production, you're going to be buying a minimum of 2-6 tons. >> reporter: 3.5 ounces is going to be a lot. >> at this point, look how thick this is. it's like icing. and we still have to add over a pound of flour. >> reporter: here is the flour. we're surprised it called for the same amount of flower as walnuts. >> today we're not going to put them in because we have a variety of tasters and we're always sensitive to nut allergies. >> reporter: we whisked and followed a special set of specifications. >> there should be no foreign material such as but not limited dark insect parts, hair, wood, glass or medal? >> reporter: with the consistency of plato, we put our first batch in the oven. next we bought a store-bought mixed, betty crocker. there were only three ingredients, eggs, oil and water. the batter was dramatically more moist. >> we have the army brownie and then we have th

it is called tripping on dex. doctors say drinking a bit too much cough syrup can cause -- >> when you use products to this volume, you are opening up yourself to risk. >> i found out about abusing dsm, i found out after my son passed away from abusing this product. >> reporter: the california nurse found her son carl dead in his bed after od g. deaths jumped 73%, to nearly 8,000 cases. at children's hospital in boston, the doctor sid half the kids for substance abuse have used dsm. >> use of dextromethorphan can precipita problems, including mood disorder anxiety or sik psychot psychotic. >> the industry opposes that, saying these harm from abuse is rare. and started to warm about dangers to abu, using five moms to tell their story of overdose. one is misty petco. >> it is not what we are looking for. we are looking for needles, powders, the legal street drugs. >> that was tom costello reporting. parents are to asked to question it if they find used cough medicine bottles in their children's rooms. >> adde rinkle

a survey found emergency room visits related to dex abuse jumped 70% between 2004 and 2008.me fod for ought, if you suffer from seasol allergies. certain fruits and vegetables can make your runny nose and itchy eyes even worse. peopleensitive to tree pollen may be sensitive to almonds, app apples and carrots. doctors say sometimes the body reads chemils in certain foods as allergens. >> interesting. > turning now to sports, and lindsay's mom is the one serving lunch with caron butler. >> the theme of this lunch is home. sincee was traded to the wizards in 2005, caron butler had become a fan favorite, known for his big plays on the crt. also for his habit of chewing straws during the game. when the gilbert arenas drama led a dismantling of the team. butler still considers this area home. he agroetd eed to catch me up o old life. so i took him to one of the best lunch spots around, my mom's kitchen. >> hi, caron. >> what are you make today? >> we are having fresh tomato basil soup. i hope you like that. chicken sandwiches, grilled chicken sandwiches in tear yak can i sauce. an

it's called tripping on dex, or dxm. now, 8% all teenagers admit they've tried it. doctors say drinking a little too much cough syrup can make kids feel like they're drunk. but drinking one or more bottles or mixing it with alcohol can lead to brain damage, seizures or loss of consciousness. >> there's a belief in kids minds that this is completely safe. t as we know, you're opening yourself up to risk. >> i found out about abuse of dxm servep be years ago, i found out too late. i found out after my son had passed away from abusing this product. >> reporter: a california nurse found her 18-year-old son carl dead in hisbed after he oded on cough syrup and prescription drugs. nationwide, overdosing jumped 73% between 2004 and 2008 to nearly 8,000 cases. at children's hospital in boftp, dr. sharon levee seize half the kids being treated for substance abuse have also used dxm. >> we think use of the substance is associated with other mental health problems and can prepitate problems, including mood disorders, anety disorders, and even psychotic disorders in some cases.

dex-related emergency room visits increased more than 70% from 2004 to 2008.n is asking for help. they want advice from the fda whether to make products like nyquil, robitussin available by prescription only. some say this is going overboard. >> when you've got inhalant abuse four times higher, marijuana abuse many, many times higher, compared to other drugs of abuse, this is not the most serious threat facing a lot of families. >> reporter: cough medicine makers say their products help millions of people and should stay over the counter, and parents are the key to curbing abuse. >> many parents did not talk to their children but we know that parents who do talk to their children have a 50% decrease in using drugs. >> reporter: missy agrees. she says restricting these to prescription only probably won't help. >> it might be you know a short-term quick fix. so it's the access is still there. >> reporter: elizabeth cohen, cnn reporting. >> he is the host with the most. tom joyner wants to bring higher education to the masses. back in a moment. >>> you're in the

dex is supposed to be the stuff that stops you from coughing.wig right now as a matter of fact. it's in 600 over-the-counter cold medicines. the fda, we just talked to them, they are talking about making this stuff from over-the-counter into prescription. the worry is some people would use this ingredient to, you know, recreational drug, robo tripping is what they call it. the experts say it's less than 1% of the population that uses this stuff to get high. even if you wanted to get high you would tpwhaoed to take 20 times the -- need to take 20 times the recommended dosage which is why the drug enforcement administration says this is a low-threat drug. and critics say the prescription part of this thing, well, it's twice as common. if you have prescription drugs they are being abused twice as much as over-the-counter drugs. certainly the cough companies, the cold remedy companies do not want this stuff to be a prescription because it would raise the price and it would lower the sales. you shouldn't give it to your kids under five. that goes wit

. >> a man in a red span dex suit, that looks like spider- man, ran on to the field.ecurity ran after him. and they couldn't catch him because he's spider-man. finally a player tripped him. diaz said he figured the man was better off getting tripped than getting tazed as spider- man. >> don't taze me, bro. >> so there is your kicker for the day. what we like to call a light story that ends the newscast. the kicker. >> five-day forecast, 80s this afternoon. a light

. >> reporter: they're all over youtube, videos engaging in robotripping or dexing. the active ingredient in many over-the-counter cough medicines. >> a generation of young people are choosing to abuse medicines. that's the issue we have to go after. >> reporter: for some teens, it's a cheap way to get high. in large doses, it can cause hallucinations or the sensation of being drunk. dxm can be a gateway to the drugs, cause changes in vision, difficulty breathe, fast heartbeat and rare instances, death. more than 8,000 people went to the emergency room for this last year. this 21-year-old has been using it to get high since 18. >> why didn't you consider it a drug? >> you can just walk in anywhere, in any city in the country and get the drug. >> reporter: still today, an fda advisory committee voted to keep cough medicines available without prescription. in keeping with the industry group position. the industry says the key is to education parents with ads like this? >> do my parents know? yeah right. i even get high in my room. >> they have no clue. >> that was dr.

. >> reporter: dex based salsa labs helps groups organize their movements online. >> what i'm hoping is going to happen is you'll have a lot of issues and candidates that will get a flood of new volunteers. >> reporter: the u.s. parks service said an application for the permit here on the national mall has been submitted but a lot has to be ironed out still, how many numbers do they expect, security plans, transportation, even portable bathrooms. but there's still time. the beck rally received permit approval just four days prior to the event. the park service says approval can even occur the very same day. in washington will thomas, fox 5 news. >>> president obama's top economic advisor plans to leave the administration at the year end. lawrence summers will step down as director of the national economic council to return to harvard university. in a statement the president said he is grateful for summers' service during a time of great peril for our country. two other high profile members of president's economic team left earlier this year. >>> the white house just one of the millio

it's called tripping on dex, or dxm.ng a little too much cough syrup can make kids feel like they're drunk, but drinking one or more bottles can lead to an irregular heartbeat, brain damage, seizures or loss of consciousness. >> i found about abuse of dxm about seven years ago. i found out after my son passed away from abusing this product. >> reporter: california nurse misty fedko found her 18-year-old son carl dead in his bed after he od'd on cough syrup and prescription drugs. nationwide er visits related to overdosing on cough medicines jumped 73% between 2004 and 2008 to nearly 8,000 cases. at children's hospital in boston, dr. sharon levee says half the kids being treated for substance abuse also used dxm. >> we think as with any other psychoactive substances, this use is associated with other mental health problems and can precipitate problems including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and even psychotic disorders. >> reporter: now the fda is considering whether to require a prescription for cough suppressants w

the 2.4 mile trail extension in sunnyvale had been off-limits to the public for dex cads.k at it now. it is now part of an effort to create a 500 mile long trail around san francisco and san pablo bays. the new extension now means cyclists have a direct connection between sunnyvale and mountain view. the next step will be to secure land to connect the trail to east palo alto. >> california's public schools could soon be required to provide students with free water at lunchtime. lawmakers sent a bill to governor schwarzenegger that calls for fresh water to be offered in cafeterias by next summer but the measure does not include funding and some districts are worried about the cost. the governor has until thursday to sign it. >> 5:48. a couple of closed schools in san francisco may be converted to housing for teachers. this proposal will get a close look tomorrow. the union says with san francisco's high cost of living about a third of its teachers live outside the city. many end up leaving after a couple of years. converting a shut teared school on mission street and one on

videos that show teens engaging in what's called robo tripping or dexing.illions of teens are known to be abusing dxm. the active ingredient in many over-the-counter cough medicines. >> we've got a generation of young people who are choosing to abuse medicines. and that's the issue we've got to go after. >> reporter: for some teens, it's a cheap way to get high. in large dose, the drug can cause hallucinations or the sensation of being drunk. but there can be real consequences. dxm can be a gateway other to drugs, can cause changes in vision, difficulty breathing, a fast heartbeat and in rare instances, death. last year, robo tripping sent more than 8,000 people, mostly teens, to the emergency room. 21-year-old james hunt has been using dxm to get high since he was 17. >> why didn't you consider it a drug? >> you don't think about drugs being on the counter at walmart. like you just walk in anywhere, like in any city in the country and get drugs. >> reporter: still today, an fda advisory committee voted to keep these cough medicines available without a pres

dex-related emergency room visits increased more than 70% from 2004 to 2008. drug enforcement administration is asking for help. they want advice from the food and drug administration on whether to make products available by prescription only. some say this is going overboard. >> when you've got inhale lant abuse four times higher, marijuana abuse many times higher, this is not the most serious threat facing a lot of families. >> reporter: cough medicine makers say the products help millions of people and parents are the key to curbing abuse. >> many parents do not talk to their children but we know that parent that is talk to their children have a 50% decrease in using drugs. >> reporter: missy agrees. she says restricting these med seasons to prescription only probably won't help. >> might be, you know, a short term quick fix so it's the access is still there. >> now, the companies that make these cough sup press sants say keep it over the counter but make it illegal to sell it to anyone under the age of 18. candy? >> thanks so much, elizabeth cohen. >>> sti

they contain a powerful ingredient known as dex a that teens are using to get high.an be deadly, and as one parent knows all too well as she lost her son. >> it is scary, because the kids don't need a scary drug dealer to obtain it. >> the president of the partnership for drug-free america though does not see this as a major issue. >> when you have inhalent abuse four times higher and marijuana use many times higher and compared to other drugs of abuse, this is not the most serious threat facing a lot of families. >> the united states drug enforcement agency sas that emergency visits soared 70% from 2004 to 2008 because of cough medicine abuse. >>> here is a strange story about a military homecoming you have not heard before. 21-year-old christopher tried to sneak into his bloomington, illinois, home, and surprise his family, but problem is that someone alerted the police about a suspicious man wearing, of course, camouflage, who was possibly committing a break-in. the soldier and the officer ended up having the last laugh. they called his mom to check out the break-