As many people who reported using LSD have also used over the counter cough and cold medicine to get high, a new report released Wednesday by the United States government revealed.

According to data of this report, more than 3 million young people with ages between 12 and 29 have used cough and cold drugs to get high. The number is comparable to use of LSD and much greater than that for methamphetamine among the age group.

A survey on 45,000 people of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) dated in 2006 found that more than 5 percent of teenagers and young adults misused the medicines. The same survey also indicated that these people also experimented frequently with illicit drugs.

Almost 82 percent of these people used marijuana, the survey said, while nearly half of them used inhalants or hallucinogens, like LSD or Ecstasy.

"The survey tells me that parents need to be very concerned about the over-the-counter medicines that they have in their medicine cabinet," Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said in a telephone interview.

The abuse seemed to be highest among white adolescents, 2.1 percent, which was three times higher than the level for blacks, 0.6 percent.

The cough and cold medicines, used by teenagers to get high include NyQuil, used by about 30 percent of them, Coricidin product, used by 18 percent and Robitussin products used by 18 percent.

The chemical that helps suppress the cough, dextromethorphan or DXM is present in more than 140 cough and cold products, which can be purchased very easily without a prescription in the United States. Taken in recommended doses, the drugs are considered safe, but in large doses can cause hallucinations, and further more vomiting, irregular heartbeat, violent muscle spasm, delirium and death, the SAMHSA said.

Officials suggest parents should be very careful about the cold and cough medication they keep inside their medicine cabinet. They also should be aware of the effect these drugs can have over their children.

"While increasing attention has been paid to the public health risk of prescription drug abuse, we also need to be aware of the growing dangers of misuse of over-the-counter cough and cold medications, especially among young people," said Terry Cline, the SAMHSA's administrator.