Purple drank

[[File:Coughsyrup-promethcode.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Cough syrup: your gramma's drank]]{{drugs}}'''Purple drank''' is a mixture of cough syrup, {{wpl|Jolly Ranchers|Jolly Ranchers}} and Sprite and is a particular favorite of "Dirty South" style rappers and your grandmother when she has a dry cough (minus the candy and Sprite). Also referred to as "lean," "drank," "sizzurp," or by chemists as "[[codeine]] linctus," its users often prefer to "sip" the mixture over time eventually catching a weak opiate buzz. Initially, the original cough syrup was purple, hence the name.<ref name=dea>Donna Leinwand, [https://archive.ph/byzz DEA warns of soft drink-cough syrup mix]. Archived from ''USA Today'', 19 October 2006.</ref> Purple drank is associated with multiple crimes, overdoses, and death.<ref>Kyle Swenson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20171109224227/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/21/the-rise-and-fall-of-miamis-ceo-of-purple-drank/?utm_term=.2257be937960 The rise and fall of Miami’s ‘CEO of Purple Drank’]. Archived from ''The Washington Post'', 21 August 2017.</ref>

==Wait, purple drank is just cough syrup?==
Yes, the most common form of purple drank contains:
* Codeine: A weak opiate that is turned into morphine by your liver by the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP2D6. This results in a mild euphoric "buzz" and also a massive histamine release when taken at larger doses.
* Promethazine: A first generation antihistamine. This helps with the itchiness that codeine causes as well as having a synergistic effect due to it causing drowsiness
* To make the cough syrup more desirable, candy such as Jolly Ranchers are added and the mixture diluted, traditionally with Sprite.
* Occasionally [[alcohol]], usually in the form of vodka.  Reasons for inclusion in the brew are pretty self-explanatory.

==Pharmacokinetics==
Here are some things you (and everybody consuming the drug), should know:
# The requirement to convert to morphine is rate-limited by your liver. This gives even pure codeine a "ceiling effect" where higher doses no longer produce a larger effect.
# Codeine itself blocks the further metabolism of more codeine. This is why pain medicines say to take your doses 4 hours apart. Sipping an already diluted mixture over time reduces its effects compared to taking it in a single dose.
# Both codeine and promethazine cause constipation. 
# Promethazine can cause seizures: ask Lil Wayne.

==Dead drank==
Despite being the [[nutmeg]] of opiates, "purple drank" has found a following among rappers and rap culture. So far this has killed:
* Rapper Pimp C, from the group UGK, died from an overdose of purple drank.<ref>Richard Winton
, [https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-pimpc5feb05-story.html Cough syrup cited in rapper Pimp C’s death]. ''Los Angeles Times'', 5 February 2008.</ref> UGK had previously sung on the Three 6 Mafia's single "Sippin' on Some Syrup".
* DJ Screw, who popularized the codeine-based drink through his "chopped and screwed" sound (think hip-hop slowed by a half), died of a codeine-promethazine-[[alcohol]] overdose on November 16, 2000.<ref>Michael Hall, [https://archive.ph/fBHRi The Slow Life and Fast Death of DJ Screw]. Archived from ''Texas Monthly'', April 2001.</ref><ref name=dea />
* Big Moe, a DJ Screw protégé, whose albums include ''City of Syrup'' and ''Purple World'', died at age 33 on October 14, 2007, after suffering a heart attack one week earlier. "Drank" causes seizures and CNS depression and was suspected in his death.<ref>Eyder Peralta, [https://archive.ph/YUUz Houston rappers remember Big Moe, dead at 33]. Archived from chron.com, 15 October 2007.</ref>

"Purple drank" seems to be popular in the NFL with several players caught with "drank" including Terrence Kiel, a San Diego Chargers player,<ref>Tony Perry, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jul-06-me-kiel6-story.html Former Charger Kiel dies in crash]. ''Los Angeles Times'', 6 July 2008.</ref><ref name=dea /> and Johnny Jolly, a Green Bay Packers player.<ref>Greg A. Bedard, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090715011308/https://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/50494897.html Jolly faces unclear future: Trial on felony charge of drug possession awaits Packers defensive lineman]. Archived from ''Journal Sentinel'', 11 July 2009.</ref> Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell was arrested at his home in Mobile, [[Alabama]], for possession of codeine syrup without a prescription.<ref>Vittorio Tafur, [https://www.sfgate.com/raiders/tafur/article/Russell-accused-of-illegal-codeine-possession-3259743.php Russell accused of illegal codeine possession]. ''SFGate'', 6 July 2010.</ref>

On March 15, 2013, Lil Wayne was hospitalized with seizures caused by "drank".<ref>Justin Ravitz, [https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/lil-wayne-is-not-close-to-death-but-drank-too-much-sizzurp-2013163/ Lil Wayne Is “Not Close to Death,” But “Drank Too Much Sizzurp”]. ''US Magazine'', 16 March 2013.</ref> This is despite an interview in 2008 where he described the withdrawal as feeling “like death in your stomach when you stop".

==Why take purple drank==
* You are 14 and found cough syrup in the medicine cabinet
* You are or want to pretend to be a rapper
* You like your teeth falling out due to excessive sugar consumption as most syrups are sweetened with a ton of sugar
* You like an opiate addiction without any of the fun of [[heroin]] or the quaint, Victorian charm of opium

== Why not to take purple drank ==
* You can get any other opiate. Drank is to opiates what 2% [[beer]] is to getting drunk.

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Drugs]]

Categories: Drugs