One student expelled from school
By:John Patten
HIGHTSTOWN Four Peddie School students hospitalized Tuesday after taking a substance commonly found in over-the-counter cough medications have been released, according to hospital officials.
The 17-year-olds were rushed to area medical centers at about 6 p.m. Tuesday, after one was taken to the school’s medical center with symptoms of a drug overdose.
Hightstown police Detective Glen Moore said the female student was unable to speak or walk, and was flushed. Police investigating the incident then discovered three other students, two girls and a boy, in similar condition on school grounds.
Upon further investigation, Detective Moore said the officers recovered a white powder, which they were told was "DXM," or Dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in over-the-counter cough medications.
DXM is not illegal to possess and police believe the students purchased it from the online auction service E-bay.
Two of the students experienced severe reactions to the drug, with one student requiring hospitalization in the intensive care unit at The Medical Center at Princeton, while another spent a day in the hospital’s acute-care unit.
When rescue squads from Hightstown, East Windsor and Cranbury responded Tuesday, no one was certain of the cause of the students’ reaction. The EMTs prepared for the possibility of more students falling ill by establishing a "triage" unit at the scene, in the event other seriously ill students were discovered.