RoboTripping: The Legal High

MIAMI (CBS4) -- Most parents worry their teens might get involved in illegal drugs. But many don't think about a legal drug kids are using to get high and it could be in your home right now. It's cough medicine, often used as a drug of choice for teens because it has one very potent ingredient, Dextromethoraphan or DXM, which can be found in more than 100 cough medicines.

The abuse of this drug is called robotripping.

More than 3 million teens nationwide have done it.

A teen named "Amanda" said she started robotripping at the age of 16 and then couldn't stop. For one year, robotripping took over her life.

"It's not something parents can catch onto easily," said Amanda.

Parents may warn their kids about illegal drugs but experts said abusing cough medicine is usually not something parents think of or worry about.

"They don't think it's as big of a deal because it's a household product. It's something they can buy in the store and a lot of times they don't even know their children might be using it," said addiction counselor Eriach Fox

Studies show more than half the teens in rehab have used cough medicine with DXM to get high.

"Everything just gets all blurry. It's like a different world almost. It's kind of like a friend thing at first then as soon as I did it and I didn't have to feel like pain of anything anymore I just stuck with it and I decided I was going to use it every day, " explained Amanda.

Once she started, her addiction quickly spiraled out of control.

"My family had just had enough of me and my attitudes and my out late at night and not coming home and not knowing where I was and what I was doing," she explained.

The biggest concern say some experts is when DXM no longer brings a big enough high teens often move on to more potent drugs.

"I was doing heroin. I started to shoot up which I promised myself I would never do. I lost my family. I lost my friends. I lost my everything." At the age of 18, she had nothing.

"I had to figure out what to do on my own," Amanda said.

It took everything she had to make the decision to check herself into rehab.

Now, a few months later, she's clean and finishing high school.

Experts warn parents to be aware of what's in the medicine cabinet.

Cough medicines with DXM have a clear warning label telling parents to learn about teen medical abuse.