Rapper Lil Wayne has become the poster boy for “Sizzurp,” a codeine laced cough syrup given a street name.
Wayne’s seizures and ICU hospitalization reveal a schism in American culture. A drug of choice for rappers and lower classes because of its low cost, “Sizzurp” can be just as dangerous as pill abuse.
The Los Angeles Times recently rana story about “sizzurp”, a fruit punch that is mixed with a prescription grade cough syrup with codeine and promethazine. This is highly addictive and technically legal, and it is a drug of choice for rappers like Lil’ Wayne.
Fans of “Weezy” know of his professed love for the drug “sizzurp,” a prescription cough syrup mixed with soda and sometimes hard candy.
And in a story that is making its way around the tabloids, Lil Wayne’s mother, Jacida Carter is quoted as saying, “Why you always gotta pick on my boy? Sure he’s had a couple of seizures but that’s because he works so hard. You can’t blame my son for wanting to unwind a bit after a hard day, would you be picking on him if he drank cognac and smoked cigars like George Clooney? No you wouldn’t would you. I think the media is making it a racial thing – like they are stereotyping my son. My Lil Wayne prefers weed and Sizzurp and that’s HIS choice, don’t judge a man for his medicine.”
Now, this drug is trickling down from the rappers to their audience who look up to them and learn from them.
Dr. Damon Raskin, a double board certified internist and addiction specialist with Cliffside Malibu Treatment Center has seen an uptick in Sizzurp users in the last year.
“Yes I have treated patients with addictions to codeine cough syrup. The use of codeine cough syrup is a serious problem, just as bad as any other opiate like OxyContin or heroin. The fact that these rappers are role models for our youth is tragic, and sends a terrible message to our young people that this stuff is okay to do. It is also attractive to teens due to its pastel color and sweet taste when mixed with fruit juice. Most users don’t realize just how addicting codeine can be, and the dangers of overdose, accidents and death are real.”
