Questions about Codeine?

by: Ned Wicker

There’s really not enough room here to go into your questions, but here are the short responses:

I have a number of questions that I would like to have answered:

1. Who would be prescribed codeine? Someone with mild to severe pain, or someone in need of a cough suppressant.

2. When prescribed, what is codeine supposed to do for the patient? Relieve pain or suppress cough.

3. What are the most common forms of codeine being used? Tablets

4. Who are the most common users of codeine? Adults.

5. Would codeine be considered a narcotic? Yes.

6. Is there an increase of abuse with this drug? Codeine or any other pain medication is often abused.

7. Popular culture, more or less the hip-hop culture, depicts the drug as something being used as a recreational drug? Cough syrup, mixed with Jolly Rancher candies and 7-up comes to mind. It?s a bad idea.

8. What effects does codeine have that would lead to its recreational use? The abuser is looking to get high.

9. From what I have been hearing throughout my research that depending on the color of the liquid form or the mixture of candy or soda that the effects can differ. Is there any truth to this? That depends largely on the individual user. I would think a concoction like that would make you vomit.

10. Besides the obvious effects, are there any other short term signs of use when using codeine for reasons other than what it’s prescribed for? Vomiting, nausea, constipation, mood changes, sweating, irregular heartbeat, respiratory difficulty come to mind, but there are more ill effects of abusing this drug.

11. Are there and long-term problems that can occur? Intensify the side effects above and you can easily see that codeine can be fatal.

12. Physically, can a person be affected by misusing codeine? Absolutely. That is why doctors are careful to assess their patients before prescribing this drug.

13. Are there any psychological consequences to its misuse? Addicts suffer psychological consequences as they journey through the cycle of addiction.

14. What goes on neurologically/chemically that causes the imbalance and possible addiction and physical consequences? This drug blocks pain and so people want to ?feel good? and abuse this drug to accomplish that end.

15. Do any of the other forms of codeine have the same side effects? Possible.

16. Could codeine abuse be a gateway to other drugs, just as marijuana can be? If so, what are the common drugs associated with it? As the addiction progresses, more drug is needed and when more drug doesn?t do the trick, more powerful drugs are tried. It is possible that the opiates might follow, or possible some form of cocaine.

by: Lynette

2/18

Hi-

I know that codeine is a strong pain killer and is often prescribed after surgery. Also, it is used as a cough suppressant.

You have a lot of questions which I do not have the answer to but I would suggest you look on the internet under “codeine” and you should be able to find some answers.

-Lynette