14 DAY TRIAL // News from the United States says that doctors in this country are a tad worried about an increase in the popularity of a drink known as “sizzurp.”
For those who have not heard about this beverage before, it must be said that sizzurp is basically a concoction that pretty much everyone can make simply by putting together soda, candy (usually Jolly Rancher candy), and prescription cough syrup.
The only catch is that, in order to get it right, the prescription cough syrup that goes into making sizzurp must contain codeine. Today reports that, as funny as this beverage's name might sound, drinking sizzurp can have some very severe health consequences.
Apparently, young people like to gulp down sizzurp in order to get high. However, doctors warn that, first off, the brew can be addictive. What's more, one too many sips can prove deadly.
“It’s quite addictive. The sweetness of the soda and candy combined with the drug itself makes people want to have this all day long,” says Dr. Robert Glatter, now working with the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
Specialists explain that, according to evidence at hand, sizzurp can have a negative impact on central nervous and respiratory systems.
Hence, it can cause nausea, hallucinations, memory loss and impaired vision. In some case, it can lead to seizures and even stop a person's breathing.
“This is a very dangerous drug. It can lead to seizures and essentially lead you to stop breathing,” Dr. Robert Glatter stresses.
What's interesting is that sizzurp has experienced a boom in its popularity thanks to songs and videos posted on the Internet that hint at just how cool it is to drink it.
“Kids are seeing this all over – on social media, on the Internet. They're seeing their favorite music stars talking about this, singing about this and then they turn to the medicine cabinet,” says Steve Pasierb with The Partnership at Drugfree.org.
In said songs and videos, it can happen that sizzurp is referred to not by this name, but as “purple drank,” “syrup,” and “lean.”