The Encyclopedia of ADDICTIVE DRUGS

(Greg DeLong) #1

Pholcodine


Pronunciation:FAHL-koh-deen


Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:509-67-1


Formal Names:Actuss, Codylin, Dia-Tuss, Duro-Tuss Liquid, Ethnine, Evafol, Gal-
enphol, Hibernyl, Homocodeine, Memine, Neocodine, Pectolin, Pholtrate, Tix-
ylix Night-Time, Tussokon


Type:Depressant (opiate class).Seepage 22


Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule I (DEA no. 9314)


USA Availability:Illegal to possess


Pregnancy Category:None


Uses.Thismorphinederivative has no officially recognized medical use in
the United States. Elsewhere, in countries ranging from Germany to Australia,
it is used in dozens of cough remedies and has often been given to children
for that purpose. Pholcodine is also a component of preparations used to fight
colds and influenza, with effects likened to those ofdextromethorphan. Var-
ious species of animals tolerate higher doses of pholcodine thancodeine, and
pholcodine appears safer than codeine in humans. Animal experiments show
pholcodine to be an anticonvulsant, unlike morphine, which can worsen con-
vulsions.
The drug has been administered to mice and rats in low daily doses for one
to three months without evidence of ill effect. Rats show normal appetite,
weight, red and white blood cell counts, and appearance of other body cells.
Drawbacks.Animal studies show pholcodine to depress breathing and
heart actions more than codeine does, but impact on those functions has not
been noted in humans. Unwanted effects can include sleepiness, nausea, and
constipation, but medical doses normally avoid other typical adverse actions
associated with opiates. In Scotland accidental poisonings of children who
drank a pleasant-tasting cough syrup containing pholcodine became common
enough that a call arose to sell the product in child-resistant packaging.
Abuse factors.Pholcodine is one of the few opiates that athletes are allowed
to use in Olympic and other sports competitions. The general ban exists not
because opiates inherently promote better performance but because their abil-
ity to relieve pain can give an athlete an advantage over competitors who are
hurting; animal studies show pholcodine to have little value in pain relief.
The substance can still be detected in urine seven weeks after a single dose

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