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Codeine - Recreational use

Codeine - Recreational use: Encyclopedia II - Codeine - Recreational use

Codeine is often used as a recreational drug. This may be due to its easy availability over-the-counter or on prescription in combination products (which, in the certain countries, are scheduled lower than codeine as a single-agent). People use it in order to obtain the euphoric effects associated with use of opioids. In certain areas of the United States; more specifically Texas, codeine syrup form is called Lean. It is commonly mixed with alcohol, or a blunt and smoked. It has been said this is done because it makes you ...

Codeine: Encyclopedia II - Codeine - Recreational use

Codeine - Recreational use

In certain areas of the United States; more specifically Texas, codeine syrup form is called Lean. It is commonly mixed with alcohol, or a blunt and smoked. It has been said this is done because it makes you "lean".
In some countries, cough syrups and tablets containing codeine are available without prescription; people will frequently purchase it from multiple pharmacies so as not to incur suspicions. It is reported that in France, 95% of the consumption of Néo-codion cough preparation, containing codeine, cannot be attributed to medical use, but is rather used as a substitute for heroin.
In the United Kingdom, people purchase tablets which combine codeine and paracetamol (acetaminophen), and consume these at higher-than-recommended doses, without apparent concern of the hepatotoxicity associated with large doses of paracetamol. Some may try to extract the codeine from the paracetamol through various methods, the most common and simplest being the cold water extraction.
While the combination of codeine with paracetamol, at higher-than-recommended doses, can possibly cause hepatotoxicity (liver damage), combination with ibuprofen can result in kidney problems/failure and additional stomach pain and nausea and combination with aspirin can lead to internal hemorrhaging, particularly gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Certain codeine products are encountered on the illicit market, frequently in combination with carisoprodol. Combinations of codeine and glutethimide (Doriden) used to be fairly commonplace, but are almost unheard of today, due to the withdrawal of glutethimide products from the marketplace in the US and almost all other countries.