Lean (drug)

Leanorpurple drank(known bynumerous local and street names) is apolysubstance drinkused as arecreational drug. It is prepared by mixingprescription-gradecough or cold syrupcontaining anopioid drugand ananti-histamine drugwith asoft drinkand sometimeshard candy. The beverage originated inHoustonas early as the 1960s and is popular inhip hop culture, especially within theSouthern United States.Codeine/promethazinesyrup is usually used to make lean, but other syrups are also used.
Users of lean are at risk ofaddiction, and serious complications includerespiratory depression,respiratory arrest, andcardiac arrest. Lean isespecially dangerous when consumed with alcohol.
The termleanrefers to the tendency for users to havedifficulty standing up straightwhile under the influence of the drug."Purple drank" references its typicallypurplehue, as the cough syrups employed are often purple in color, and anAfrican-American Vernacular Englishterm for an alcoholic beverage orintoxicating drink. Other names include "syrup/sizzurp", "jelly", "Tussin/Tuss'", "barre", "Wock'", "Act'", "Texas tea", "mud", "dirty Sprite", and "tsikuni".In areas where lean had not yet been introduced, codeine-based cough syrup mixed with pills was called "juice and beans".Lean is also sometimes referred to by its color in slang, usually purple (or "purp'"), but can also be red, green, or yellow based on the ingredients used.
Typically, the base for lean is a strongprescriptioncold medicine, specifically cough syrup that contains bothpromethazineandcodeine. Other preparations usecodeine/guaifenasin,hydrocodone/chlorphenamine,hydrocodone/APAP, andhydrocodone/homatropine.Over-the-countercold medicines that containdextromethorphan(often paired withguaifenasinoracetaminophen) as the active ingredient have also been used, as they do not require acquiring a prescription.
To create a drinkable mixture, the cough syrup is combined with soft drinks, especially fruit-flavored drinks such asSprite,Mountain Dew, orFanta, and is typically served in twofoam cups.Ahard candy, usually aJolly Rancher, may be added to give the mixture a sweeter flavor.Masking the undesired taste may impair judgment of thepotency, which is a factor inoverdosing.
The physiological effects of lean on the user are to produce mild "euphoric side effects", which are accompanied by "motor-skill impairment, lethargy, drowsiness, and a dissociative feeling from all other parts of the body."It has been suggested that the super-sweet combination of soda, cough syrup, and Jolly Ranchers provides a pleasing flavor andmouthfeelthat lingers on the user's tongue for an extended duration. This phenomenon is often appealing to first-time users.Lean is often used in combination withalcoholand/or other drugs.
When taken in prescribed quantities, codeine-promethazine is quite safe,but dangers arise in higher doses since promethazine is a depressant of thecentral nervous system(CNS), and codeine is arespiratory depressant. When codeine is taken in very large amounts, it can cause one to stop breathing.Using alcohol and other drugs alongside lean increases the chance of respiratory depression.It seems that the concoction does not causeseizuresitself, but increases their likelihood in those susceptible to them.The drink includes a massive amount of the opiate codeine, and it has been suggested that promethazine may heighten the euphoric effects of codeine.
The addictive nature of the drink means that trying to discontinue regular usage can bring about symptoms of withdrawal.In a 2008 interview withMTV News,Lil Waynedescribed the withdrawal as feeling "like death in your stomach when you stop. Everybody wants me to stop all this and all that. It ain't that easy."
Respiratory depression is a potentially serious or fatal adverse drug reaction associated with the use of codeine, but mainly the danger lies in the much more potent and CNS-depressingphenothiazine-related antihistamine promethazine. This depression is dose-related and is the mechanism for the potentially fatal consequences of overdose:respiratoryorcardiac arrest. As with most CNS depressants, mixing with alcohol greatly increases the risk of respiratory failure and other complications.
Lean is thought to have developed inHoustonaround the 1960s, whenblues musicianswould takeRobitussinand cut it withbeer. Later, whenwine coolerscame onto the market, they substituted for beer.These blues musicians lived in Houston'sFifth Ward,Third Ward, andSouth Parkneighborhoods and the practice was taken up by the generation of rappers growing up in the same parts of the city.In the 1980s and 1990s the formula changed to using codeine promethazine cough syrup, somewhat like theglutethimideand codeine combination that was popular from the 1970s up to the early 1990s.Codeine-based cough syrups were also turned to as an alternative topentazocine/tripelennamine("T's and blues") after the pharmaceutical industry addednaloxoneto its constitutent drugs, effectively blocking their potential for abuse.
Lean remained a local phenomenon in Houston until the 1990s, when the American rapperDJ Screwreleased several tunes mentioning the drink in hismixtapes, which were extremely popular in the Houston area.DJ Screw's music was particularly appropriate for Houston's climate. Due to the heat and expanse of the Houston area residents spent long drives in their cars, "the music that most appropriately complements that has always been the music of DJ Screw, it's slowed down—and when I say slowed down I mean he would record sessions in his apartment with rappersfreestylingover beats and he would make these big mixtapes and then he would actually slow them down even further on his cassette recorder."DJ Screw's invoking lean in his lyrics and his use of slow tempos had caused his style to be characterized "[a]s if the song itself has taken too much codeine promethazine".Rappers far beyond Houston would come to adopt aspects of DJ Screw's unique style, but not before he died of a codeine overdose in 2000.
Houston producer DJ Screw popularized the concoction, which is widely attributed as a source of inspiration for thechopped-and-screwedstyle ofhip hop music.The promethazine and codeine concoction first gained popularity in the underground hip hop scene in Houston,where musicianBig Hawksaid it was consumed as early as the 1960s and 1970s, becoming more widely used in the early 1990s.Because of usage by rap artists in Houston, it became more popular in the 1990s.Its use later spread toother States in the South.In June 2000,Three 6 Mafia's single "Sippin' on Some Syrup", featuringUGK, brought the termpurple drankto a nationwide audience.
In 2004, theUniversity of Texas at Austinfound that 8.3% ofsecondary schoolstudents inTexashad taken codeine syrup to get high.TheDrug Enforcement Administrationreports busts involving syrup across the Southern United States, particularly inTexasandFlorida.As of 2011, the price of lean in Houston was twice the price it is inLos Angeles.
In a 2019 interview, American rapperFuturespoke about quitting lean and stated that he was afraid that his fans would believe his music has changed if he had publicly admitted to quitting earlier.Future expressed disappointment after American rapperJuice Wrldtold him that he was influenced by his music to try lean when he was young. Future stated "It's like, 'Oh shit.' How many other sixth-graders did I influence to drink lean?"The two artists had released a collaborative mixtape titledWrld on Drugsin October 2018.Lil Nas X's hit song "Old Town Road" includes the line "Lean all in my bladder", though Lil Nas X has stated he does not endorse the drug.
DJ Screw, who popularized the codeine-based drink, died of a codeine–promethazine, Valium, and PCP overdose on November 16, 2000, several months after the video ofThree 6 Mafia's single debuted.
Big Moe, a DJ Screw protégé whose albumsCity of SyrupandPurple Worldwere based on the drink and who has been described as having "rapped obsessively about the drug",died at age 33 on October 14, 2007, after suffering aheart attackone week earlier that left him in acoma.There was speculation that lean may have contributed to his death.
Pimp C, a widely influential rapper fromPort Arthur, Texasand member of the rap duoUGK, was found dead on December 4, 2007, at theMondrian HotelinWest Hollywood, California. TheLos Angeles County Coroner's Officereported that the rapper's death was "due to promethazine-codeine effects and other unestablished factors." Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Coroner's Office, said the levels of the medication were elevated, but not enough to deem the death an overdose. However, Pimp C had a history ofsleep apnea, a condition that causes one to stop breathing for short periods during sleep. A spokesman for the coroner's office said that the combination of sleep apnea and cough medication probably suppressed Pimp C's breathing long enough to bring on his death.
Fredo Santana, an American rapper who frequently made references to the drink in his music, died of a seizure on January 19, 2018. According to TMZ, he had been suffering from liver and kidney problems, which were believed to be the result of his addiction.
In September 2006,Terrence Kiel, aSan Diego Chargersplayer, was arrested during practice for the possession with intent to sell prescription cough syrup for use in making the drink.Kiel was caught trying to ship a case of syrup to a friend viaFedEx. Kiel was charged with two felony counts of transporting a controlled substance and three counts of possession for sale of a controlled substance.
On July 8, 2008,Johnny Jolly, aGreen Bay Packersplayer, was pulled over in his car by the police for playing excessively loud music in a nightclub parking lot. The officers found aDr Pepperbottle in a holder next to two Styrofoam cups containing soda and ice.The case was dismissed,but charges were refiled in December 2009 after the Houston Police Department acquired new equipment that allowed the police to test the evidence again. Jolly faced a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in jail, but as a first time offender he would be eligible forprobation.
On July 5, 2010, formerOakland RaidersquarterbackJaMarcus Russellwas arrested at his home inMobile, Alabama, for possession of codeine syrup without a prescription. He was arrested as part of an undercover narcotics investigation. Russell was booked into city jail and released soon afterwards after making his bail.
On June 11, 2013, just days after being robbed at gunpoint in San Francisco, rapper2 Chainzwas arrested atLos Angeles International Airporton charges of possessing promethazine and codeine (the primary ingredients of lean) along withmarijuana.
Mac Miller, who died of a drug overdose not involving lean, spoke openly of his addiction to lean.
On April 7, 2015, Swedish rapperYung Lean, while living inMiami Beach, Florida, and recording his second studio albumWarlord, was hospitalized atMount Sinai Medical Centerdue to an overdose stemming from an addiction toXanax,cocaine, and lean.
Several legal commercial products loosely based on the concept of "purple drank" are marketed in the United States. In June 2008, Innovative Beverage Group, a Houston, Texas-based company, released a beverage called "Drank". The commercial product contains no codeine or promethazine, but claims to "Slow Your Roll" with a combination of herbal ingredients such asvalerian rootand rose hips as well as the hormonemelatonin.Similar "anti-energy" orrelaxation drinkson the commercial market use the names "Purple Stuff", "Sippin Syrup", and "Lean".
These commercial products have been criticized for their potential to serve asgatewaysto the dangerous illegal concoction.The marketing push has been described as akin to the making ofcandy cigarettes.