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Notable deaths from use
Purple drank is confirmed or suspected to have caused the deaths of several prominent users. 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-depressing phenothiazine-related antihistamine promethazine. This depression is dose-related and is the mechanism for the potentially fatal consequences of overdose: respiratory or cardiac arrest. As with most CNS depressants, mixing with alcohol greatly increases the risk of respiratory failure and other complications.
DJ Screw, who popularized the codeine-based drink, died of a codeine-promethazine-alcohol overdose on November 16, 2000, several months after the video to Three 6 Mafia's single debuted.[6]
Big Moe, a DJ Screw protegé whose albums City of Syrup and Purple World were based on the drink and who has been described as having "rapped obsessively about the drug,"[19] died at age 33 on October 14, 2007, after suffering a heart attack one week earlier that left him in a coma.[20] There was speculation that purple drank may have contributed to his death. [14][21]
Pimp C, widely influential Port Arthur, Texas rapper and a member of rap duo UGK, was found dead on December 4, 2007, at the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, California. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office reported 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 of sleep 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.[3][19]
[edit] Other notable incidents
In September 2006, Terrence Kiel, a San Diego Chargers player, was arrested during practice for the possession with intent to sell prescription cough syrup for use in making the drink.[2] Kiel was caught trying to ship a case of syrup to a friend via Fed Ex. Kiel was charged with two felony counts of transporting a controlled substance and three counts of possession for sale of a controlled substance.[22]
On July 8, 2008, Johnny Jolly, a Green Bay Packers player, was pulled over in his car for excessive music. The officers found a Dr Pepper bottle in the left cup holder of the center console next to two Styrofoam cups containing soda and ice. The officers said the cups and the bottle all emitted strong odors of codeine.[23] The case has since been dismissed while technicians involved are trained on new equipment.[24] Charges were refiled in December of 2009, however, upon the Houston Police Department's acquisition of new equipment that allowed the police to test the evidence again. Jolly faces a possible maximum sentence of up to twenty years in jail, but because he is a first time offender Jolly is eligible for probation.[25]
On July 5th, 2010, former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell was arrested at his home in Mobile, Alabama for possession of codeine syrup. He was arrested as part of an undercover narcotics investigation, and he did not have a prescription. Russell was booked into city jail and released soon afterwards after making his $2,500 bail. [26]
Several legal commercial products loosely based on "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 as valerian root and rose hips as well as the hormone melatonin.[27][28] Similar "relaxation" or "anti-energy" drinks on the commercial market use the names "Purple Stuff" and "Sippin Syrup".[29
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