'One day I'm going to find him dead in his room': Mother opens up about 17-year-old son's terrifying addiction to legal drug available over the counter Single mother from the Gold Coast, said 17-year-old son gets high every night He consumes a mixture of Rikodeine, which contains codeine, and fizzy drink She said he drinks so much that he can't move or stand up when he's high The woman is campaigning for cough syrups to be made prescription onlyBy Charlie Moore For Daily Mail Australia Published: 01:52 BST, 3 May 2019 | Updated: 01:52 BST, 3 May 2019 Viewcomments A mother has told how she fears her son will soon drop dead from his cough syrup addiction. The single mother of four, from the Gold Coast, said her 17-year-old boy gets high on a mixture of Rikodeine and soft drink every night. She said he drinks so much that he can't move or stand up - and expects to soon find him dead. A mother has told how she fears her son will soon die of his cough syrup addiction. Pictured is an Instagram post showing people mixing cough syrup with marijuana The single mother of four, from the Gold Coast, said her 17-year-old boy gets high on a mixture of Rikodeine (pictured) and fizzy drink every night 'I'm going to go in to his room one day and he will be dead. It's devastating but it's not going to shock me. It's inevitable,' the anonymous woman told the Gold Coast Bulletin. 'Every night he just wipes himself out. He can barely speak. He can't even stand up. 'He passes out every night with food all over him, ants crawling on him. I've slapped him so hard that I thought he was dead and he just looked at me and went back to sleep.' The woman said her son knows his addiction is killing him and that he's in pain but he just can't stop. She said when she stops him abusing the medicine, he gets angry and aggressive and punches holes in the walls of the house. The woman, has three daughters of which the youngest is eight, is campaigning for cough syrups to be made prescription only. The woman said her son knows his addiction is killing him and that he's in pain but he just can't stop (stock image of cough syrup mixed with sprite) Rikodeine contains codeine and is legally sold over the counter at pharmacists' discretion with no age restrictions What is Rikodeine? Rikodeine cough syrup contains codeine and is legally sold over the counter at pharmacists' discretion with no age restrictions. In small doses it is harmless but too much can cause hallucinations, memory loss and blurred vision. Mixing with alcohol can be lethal. Addicts often mix cough syrup with soft drinks or lollies to take away the bitter taste. Rikodeine contains codeine and is legally sold over the counter at pharmacists' discretion with no age restrictions. In small doses it is harmless but too much can cause hallucinations, memory loss and blurred vision. Mixing with alcohol can be lethal. Addicts often mix cough syrup with soft drinks or lollies to take away the bitter taste. The abuse of prescription cough medicines has been glamourised by some hip-hop and rap artists who post photos of their drugs on social media. There have been reports of several hospitalisations and deaths around the world from overdoses amid fears the number of addicts is on the rise. Earlier this month, an inquest heard that a young man died at a Darwin house party after consuming a toxic cocktail of cough syrup and alcohol. In small doses the cough syrup is harmless but too much can cause hallucinations, memory loss and blurred vision Fazan Khan, 22, had been at the gathering in the city's northern suburbs in January 2018 and brought with him two bottles he had mixed of 'purple drank' or 'lean' - a combination of soft drink and prescription cough syrup. He drank most of the contents throughout the evening and a friend also said he witnessed him taking the drug MDMA and anti-depressants before vomiting outside. An autopsy found toxic levels of oxycodone and MDMA in his system that caused the young man's death as well as lower levels of codeine and alprazolam - the ingredients in Xanax. 'Lean has been linked to a number of fatalities in the United States,' counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer told the court on Thursday. 'The codeine in lean is a breathing depressant, as is alcohol, and when mixed the results can be fatal,' she said. The substance was popular among hip hop artists in the southern United States in the 90s - being referred to in numerous songs. Fazan Khan (pictured), 22, died at a Darwin house party after consuming a toxic cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol, an inquest has heard Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility