Murfreesboro mom warns of dangers of cough syrup drink known as ‘lean’
A Murfreesboro mother is speaking out on the dangers of a deadly cough syrup concoction.
It goes by a number of names, including lean, sizzurp, and purple drank.
Samantha Dickerson was at an acquaintance’s home in April when her baby accidentally took a sip of some.
She met News 2 outside of the county courthouse soon after, seeking justice.
“It could have been bad,” said Dickerson. “That’s why I don’t allow things like that around her.”
Most often, lean is made out of soft drinks, candy, and prescription-strength cough syrup.
Unbeknownst to Dickerson, a bottle of lean had been left out while she and young Gabriel visited the acquaintance.
“I went over to go get her and a dude had gotten upset because she had spilled a bottle, and it was lean in the bottle,” she explained to News 2. “He was like, ‘She put it to her mouth and she spilled it.’”
Dickerson had never heard of the drug but soon learned of the dangers at a doctor’s office.
“The nurses told me she could have stopped breathing if she had consumed it,” the mother said.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens, side effects for lean include nausea, dizziness, hallucinations, seizures, and even death.
Dickerson is seeking to press charges after she claimed she was assaulted while leaving the home.
All the while though, she’s grateful little Gabriel is alive and well.
“That’s why I don’t allow things like that around her because she is a baby,” said Dickerson. “She doesn’t know good from bad.”
Courtesy of WKRN News 2
