Why is DXM (still) legal?

[nononono15]

While swim was tripping on dxm, he wondered to himself how such an amazing substance is legal. there are so many positive effects, he wonders why the dea does not block it. swim has tried many drugs and dxm seems to be one of his favorite. Though its mainly used by teenagers desperate for a high, swim believes this drug seems more "hardcore" than weed, alcohol, and somes xtc. some stores have a restriciton to 18 and older (america is.. not sure about anywhere else) and swim hasnt even heard about a bill being passed about illgealizing it. swim wonders how and why.. but for whatever reason, i surely hope it stays

[Paracelsus]

DXM is exempted from the Controlled Substances Act. It would be very well justified to ban it (one in ten teens in the US has used it), but my guess is that its medical use generates far too much income for the pharmaceutical companies. But age restrictions on products and restrictions on pure DXM will very likely be put into place.

[paranoid_android]

The reason is simply that there is no other effective cough suppressant on the market. The only cough suppressant that works as good as or better than DXM is codeine. Of course they made that prescription-only in the 50's, right after DXM was discovered. Basically, if DXM wasn't invented then you'd be saying the same thing about codeine. As a matter of fact, many countries still sell codeine over the counter. I think Canada may be one of them.

[Paracelsus]

^^ I tend to believe that the public's need for a cough suppressant is more important here than the true value of DXM as a cough suppressant. Studies are inconclusive - many show no relief at all from DXM, others show very mild relief at best. I remember reading a recent abstract of a study that concluded that honey was more effective than DXM in nighttime cough.

[paranoid_android]

I agree. Although I can't remember any specific sources, I do recall hearing that DXM is a fairly poor cough suppressant. Many people were angry when codeine went prescription-only. The gap between the effectiveness of codeine and DXM was huge, but they don't seem to care as long as there is a bottle of something that says "cough suppressant" on the shelf.

[fnord]

Originally Posted by Paracelsus

^^ I tend to believe that the public's need for a cough suppressant is more important here than the true value of DXM as a cough suppressant. Studies are inconclusive - many show no relief at all from DXM, others show very mild relief at best. I remember reading a recent abstract of a study that concluded that honey was more effective than DXM in nighttime cough.

Yes during a time when grandma had a really bad cold 2-3grams were eaten per day and she was still coughing,no change in her cold.

Ive always felt that its legal due to the money Big-pharm is making off it,think about it,probably just about everyone you know owns a bottle,well maybe not you guys here in the DXM forum.... but most normal people have a bottle or two sitting around the house.

[nononono15]

so dxm will be hangin around with us for quite a bit longer... sounds good to swim

[Lethargy]

Honestly I've only ever had twice in my life when DXM helped with my cough that I can register, once I had bronchitis and the other a terrible terrible cold. Essentially I agree that most people like to have the option to take something to soothe their mind not their throat. It covers the pharm to have DXM actually show cough suppression qualities otherwise they'd probably sell honeyed lemoned syrups like mad, look at cough drops, some of the most popular taste like candy, others have menthol which does help on its own but also makes them "taste like medicine" thus generating more placebo.

Oh well, I have no problem with it if it allows another easy tool for psychonauts out there.

[thealmassi1]

Codeine is legal in Canada?? No prescription??? SWIM'll have to check that out, but i doubt it since Canada loves doing whatever their bigger neighbour does.
When a company has money and needs to protect one of their best-selling products, they're gonna fight any one from taking it from the shelves. SWIm isn't complaining at all and would support them if he could.
If it is illegalized, i blame it on the stupid kids who kill themselves consuming insane amounts and having everyone blame the drug and not the irresponsible kid in hospital /their grave.

[silentghost]

SWIMs days in the pharmacy showed DXM just as effective at cough suppression as codeine, though it should be noted DXM is intended to treat dry coughs, not the heavy mucus filled lungs most people get.

If people didn't stop coughing, they usually just got a doc to prescribe codeine. Other then that theres nothing one can really do.

SWIM does remember many Brits and Canadians always walking in demanding that they get their codeine cough syrup, which would make the US pharmacists gasp in horror

[Paracelsus]

^^^ I would call placebo on that one. DXM doesn't alleviate colds and is not even for coughs in general. It is indicated for dry (non-productive) cough. This pretty much confirms that all people want and need is a placebo and some power of suggestion.

[El Calico Loco]

Swim feels that DXM has helped suppress his coughs to some degree. It doesn't help with involuntary coughs, but it does seem to help alleviate the lung and throat tickles that would encourage, but not force, him to cough. He suspects it has more to do with the anesthetic action than anything else.


ECL

[smcf2.2]

I find DXM to be an incredibly effective cough suppressant. I guess it could just be a placebo or something, but Delsym stops me coughing almost entirely (SWIM has similar experience with Delsym, but when he takes an extraordinarily large dose, it doesn't help his cough in the slightest). Weird.

[nononono15]

swim agrees. when he uses dxm recreationally , obviously not for coughs, he always get the feeling in his throat that he just ate 50 cough drops. theres always a thick coating of junk in his throat that he hocks [sp?] up during the trip. so i think it does allow some alleviation of cough, but like mod said, is mostly placebo.

[Euthanatos93420]

Interesting. Swim takes dex to alleviate coughs and very occaisionally, trip. As a smoker (quitting YAY!) and an ex-pot smoker (Who hacked EVERY TIME) he found that dex singnificantly reduced his coughage when smokin' pot. also while tripping or take in medicinal doses (Because he coughs a lot from smokin' & smokin'!)

[Smokey420]

Lets not question the effectiveness of the cough, as long as people think it is effective, then it is. I think it is.

[JDreaming]

DXM is a pretty crappy drug to trip on. But if you want to know why it's legal, try taking it as prescribed next time you have a cold. Take 30 milligrams rather than some super-awesome '4th plateau' dose like 800mg, enjoy a break from the misery of your cold, and be thankful that such an effective medicine hasn't been taken away from us yet.