Procter & Gamble (PG) NyQuil: Teenage Drug Of Choice

Getting high on cold mediciation appears to have become the "hot" path to a good time. And, it’s inexpensive and unregulated. Procter & Gamble’s (PG) NyQuil is now being headlined in the press as the most fun you can get in a bottle.

According to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Sevices Administration "about  3.1 million people in the United States aged 12 to 25 (5.3 percent of this age group) have used over-the-counter (non-prescription) cough and cold medicines to get high at least once in their lifetimes." That puts its ahead of reported use of methamphetamines and about even with LSD.

The latest recipe for taking NyQuil is a mix of vodka, Red Bull and the cold medicine called a Purple Monster. The New York Post writes that the recipes for these cocktails are available online.

If  Procter & Gamble management wants to prevent a cascade of litigation and tremendouse negative PR, it needs to insist that their NyQuil products only be sold with a perscrption.

Douglas A. McIntyre