The Kansas Board of Pharmacy wants an ingredient used in prescription cough syrup to be tracked by the state because it’s being abused.
Debra Billingsley is executive secretary of the board of pharmacy, she told lawmakers Monday that promethazine with codeine syrup is being increasingly abused as a recreational drug, particularly by high school students. She says when it’s mixed with soda or candy the mixture is often called by several slang names, including "purple drank" and "sizzurp."
If it’s added to the Kansas Tracking and Reporting of Controlled Substances program, promethazine with codeine would join dozens of substances that pharmacists track and law enforcement can access with a search warrant.
Billingsley says officials recommended tracking the substance because of how quickly the mixture is selling.
