Coricidin is for Fuckers.

[ProfessorNumber]

DXM, Coricidin, Robo-trippin, whatever you want to call it, is quite possibly the STUPIDEST drug of all times. I’ve noticed that the dangers of most drugs are over exaggerated, but when someone tells you that coricidin fries your brain, they aren’t kidding. You want to know what dissociatives such as DXM do to your brain?

1. Dissociatives activate neurons in the posterior cingulate cortex (PC) and retrosplenial cortex (RC). These overactive neurons pass along their excitation to "downstream" areas such as the hippocampus and olfactory areas.
There are two theories on why the PC and RC neurons get overexcited in the first place; either one, both, or neither could be true. One theory is that NMDA receptors are found on inhibitory GABA interneurons, and that when these receptors are blocked, these interneurons secrete less GABA, and thus excitatory pyramidal neurons that normally receive a lot of GABA inhibition are overexcited.
The other theory is that the PC and RC are less affected by NMDA blockade than the hippocampus (and related areas), and that these formations serve as feedback to the hippocampus and surrounding networks. As these limbic networks are inhibited, the PC and RC increase their output to compensate, resulting in overactivity.
2. The overactive cells begin to heat up, use up their energy supply generate toxic waste products, and/or let in too many calcium ions.
3. Regardless of the mechanism, or whether the mechanism is none of the above, the overactivity seems to cause intracellular organelles (notably mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum) to malfunction.
4. The mitochondria probably lose their proton gradient and allow their innards to spill into the surrounding cell material, where they cause all sorts of trouble, possibly including forming free radicals which cause further damage to the cell. Another possibility is that the free radicals come first, and they cause damage to the mitochondria and other organelles. Mitochondrial damage can occur within 15 minutes of the drug dose, the endoplasmic reticulum is damaged 30 minutes, and in both cases gets worse as time progresses. The free radicals, basically, destroy everything in the cell like a rampant two-year-old on a spending spree through Toys-R-Us.
5. The cell responds to this damage with a protein called HSP70. This "heat shock" protein is made and activated when something (such as overheating, thus the name "heat shock protein" or HSP) is causing a cell to malfunction so badly as to be in danger of self-destructing, and its job is to turn the cell off until repairs can be made. Hopefully, the cell will get a lot of rest (about 24 hours) until it goes back to normal. At this point the problem is still reversible and the brain cells have not been permanently damaged.
6. If the cell continues to be overexcited, it eventually burns out completely as the increased temperature, disrupted ion gradient, hypoxia, calcium ions, free radicals, and/or buildup of waste products kill it. At this point, surrounding support cells called microglia are activated and come in and eat the cell (probably under the theory that if an infectious organism caused the cell death, it'd better be destroyed before the infection can spread). Source

For those of you who are too lazy to read that, it basically states that damage is done to your brain when certain cells overheat and rupture. Taking excessive doses of dissociatives make certain parts of your brain fry like the proverbial egg-on-the-frying-pan in the "This is Your Brain on Drugs" commercial.

Now, why is this relevant? Before I left Warsaw, I noticed that this “drug” was gaining a lot of popularity among stupid bitches. Why? Because of it’s easy availability, and quasi-legality. Personally I think it’s ridiculous that anyone would be so desperate to get “high” that they would stoop to using a fucking stupid drug like DXM. If you ever see someone using DXM/Coricidin, smack them on their fucking face.