Purple drank is a slang term for a recreational drug popular in the hip hop community in the southern United States, originating in Houston, Texas. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine. [1] Cough syrup is typically mixed with ingredients such as Sprite soft drink or Mountain Dew. [citation needed] The purplish hue of purple drank comes from dyes in the cough syrup.
There are numerous slang terms for purple drank, including sizzurp, [2][3][4][5][6] lean, [1][3][4][7] syrup, [3][5][8]
drank, [5][9] barre, [5] purple jelly, [4][5] Texas tea, [9] and Tsikuni. [10]
The most popular type of codeine syrup is promethazine-codeine, a prescription cough syrup. The active ingredients are codeine, a narcotic, and promethazine, an antihistamine. When taken in large quantities, both medications can lead to sedation and altered levels of consciousness. [1] The inclusion of the antihistamine is intended to deter abuse, as doses higher-than-recommended can produce extreme somnolence, clinical weakness, and ultimately, fatal hypoventilation (inadequate breathing to sustain life). In lower doses, the antihistamine targets cold symptoms through reducing both swelling and vasodilation; it also acts to potentiate the opiate codeine.
Prescription cough syrups containing hydrocodone are also used to make the drink, though they are less popular. [26] Songs like "Sippin' on Some Syrup" by Three 6 Mafia refer to Tussionex, a yellow cough syrup containing extended-release hydrocodone and chlorpheniramine (another antihistamine). [27] Other hydrocodone-containing syrups such as Histinex HC, Hycotuss, and Hycodan may also be used, but Hycodan has added homatropine to deter abuse. [28]
Syrup also is made with over-the-counter cough syrups such as Robitussin DM, which contain dextromethorphan as the cough suppressant. Although dextromethorphan is used recreationally, it has dissociative effects as opposed to narcotic. Dextromethorphan is a synthetic morphine analog, [29]
although without opioid activity that morphine has, that has been on the market in the United States since the 1950s. [30] It is a cough suppressant in small doses, but in large doses it can result in a disassociative state, with hallucinations, similar to that produced by PCP or ketamine. [26]
Promethazine-codeine contains 10 mg of codeine and 6.25 mg of promethazine per 5 mL. [31]
Some users report that the large amount of sugar in drank causes them to experience weight gain, tooth decay, and other medical symptoms.
exas producer DJ Screw popularized the concoction, which is widely attributed as a source of inspiration for the "chopped and screwed" style of hip hop music. [3][11] Originally, the active ingredient of "syrup" was cough syrup containing promethazine and codeine. The concoction first gained popularity in the underground rap scene in Houston, [11] where musician Big Hawk said it was consumed as early as the 1960s and 1970s, becoming more widespread in the early 1990s. [12] Its use later spread to other southern states. [3] Because of usage by rap artists in Houston, it became more popular in the 1990s. [13]
In June 2000, Three 6 Mafia's single "Sippin' on Some Syrup," featuring UGK, brought the term "purple drank" to a nationwide audience. [2] Three 6 Mafia's single "Rainbow Colors" featuring Lil' Flip pertains to the consumption of purple drank; the addition of a Jolly Rancher candy to a cup of purple drank creates a spectrum of colors, hence the name.
In 2004, the University of Texas found that 8.3% of secondary school students in Texas had taken codeine syrup to get high. [3] The Drug Enforcement Administration reports "busts" involving syrup across the southern United States, particularly in Texas and Florida. [3]
As of 2011, the price of purple drank in Houston is twice the price as it is in Los Angeles. [13]
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