A junior high school student was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital yesterday after overdosing on cold medicine.

Police and paramedics were called to South Junior High School, 2734 La., just before 11 a.m.

Sgt. Dan Ward, spokesman for the Lawrence Police Department, said the seventh-grade boy took an excessive amount of over-the-counter cold medicine on purpose but not in an attempt to take his own life.

Tami Radohl, a social worker with Southwest Junior High School, said students sometimes take large amounts of cold medicine to get a rush or a high. The drugs, she said, have a stimulating effect, like an amphetamine. They can also cause liver damage, increased heart rate, seizure and a coma.

“They’re easy to get,” Radohl said, “and parents might not think about keeping them locked up like they would prescription drugs.”

Julie Boyle, a spokeswoman for the Lawrence school district, said the student did not suffer any serious injuries as a result of the overdose.

According to district policy, junior high school students are allowed to self-administer nonprescription drugs, as long as a parent has signed a specific permission form.

• 6News video: Student overdoses on cold medicine (10-28-05)

District officials would not comment on whether the student had permission to take the medicine or what kind of medicine it was.