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Mother, Daughter Face Drug Charges For Ibuprofen At School
Officials at a middle school in Georgia were searching a girl's purse after being tipped off she was carrying a knife, but they didn't find a weapon. They found something just as bad, ibuprofen. Not the usual 200mg pills, but the big 800mg variety. An investigation revealed that the girl had received the pills from her mother, who got the medication from Martin Army Community Hospital. Police then charged the mother with distributing a dangerous drug, while her daughter was only charged with possession. There's no telling what deviant acts a 12-year-old might commit under the influence of four Advil.
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Well.. the maximum recommended dose for ibuprofen is 1200mg.
OD's aren't _too_ dangerous, usually limiting themselves to stomach upset and nosebleeds.
In massive overdoses (greater than100mg/kg of body weight), it whacks your blood potassium levels, causing arrhythmia and possible cardiac arrest.
Massive OD's also toast your kidneys to a delicate crunch. {grin}
The list of contraindications and possible side effects for prescription-strength ibuprofen is alarming. It is long and includes things to look for like "vomit that looks like coffee grounds". There are mood-altering substances with much shorter lists, like valium (diazepam).
Under the care of a physician, the maximum daily dose for an adult is 3.2 grams, and otherwise 1.2 grams. The maximum daily dosage for a 12-year-old is about 40 mg per kg of body mass.
There are a lot more serious drugs the kid could have been found to have, but there are laws about prescription medications. They are to be possessed and taken by the prescribed party and kept in a labelled container.
This should probably have resulted in a warning and in info packet being sent home, but schools have gone zero-tolerance crazy. The state does have a right to prosecute since this was technically illegal, but hopefully a good judge just sees that the lesson was learned.
There is no way that her and her mom were oblivious to the fact since most standard, off the shelf ibuprofen pills are only 200mg. Something else was going on and I think you were too quick to assume the kid was innocent in this case
FYI - in this country, the UK, 400mg Ibuprofen are an off-the-shelf product.
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