A father from Rockdale County is pleading for state lawmakers to do something to help keep some popular forms of cold medicine out of the hands of teens and young adults who abuse it.

Dewayne Fulcher nearly lost his 23-year-old son four years ago to an addiction to cold medicine that contains dextromethorphan--commonly used as a cough suppressant.

“They’ll take eight to 16 at a time and the high that it gives them makes them feel like they have a lot of energy like a speed or methamphetamine,” he tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.

His son, who doesn’t want his name used for this story, began abusing it at age 17 after learning about it from friends. Two years later, after joining the military, he nearly died when he collapsed in a parking lot and hit his head. He fractured his skull and suffered two brain hemorrhages.

He had taken 24 pills.

“I was underage to drink...and I couldn’t smoke marijuana either. So, what do you think I did?”

Gaylord Lopez, who has been at the helm of the Georgia Poison Center for more than 30 years, says overdosing on cold medication has been a problem for decades.

“In high doses, people have been known to call this sort of the poor man’s PCP because this is a drug that is readily available. You can go into dollar stores. You can go into pharmacies,” he says.

Fulcher wants to see state lawmakers pass a bill to regulate the medication or even require a prescription to obtain it.

“Nobody wants to bury their child over this type of medication. And I could have possibly done that the day he took too many of them and overdosed on it,” he says.

Lopez says it’s unlikely we’ll see it removed from over the counter, but he does urge awareness from parents.

“If you notice your child acting unusual, tends to have a lot of over-the-counter medicines in his or her room, be aware that some of these drugs are easily abused. They have the potential to be addicting and, in some cases, not only can cause serious symptoms but can cause death as well,” he says.

It’s a message Fulcher’s son wants others to heed.

“I just want to tell them that nothing is going to stop the addiction if you try that drug,” he says.

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