Lean addiction doesn’t always start with daily use—it often begins with “just a cup to relax.” But purple syrup is an opioid cough medicine, not a harmless trend. Doses are inconsistent, and people often mix with alcohol or sedatives, turning a chill vibe into slowed breathing or blackout. If you’re worried about purple drank addiction, know that the gap between “buzzed” and overdose can be small—especially with codeine and promethazine together and in hot, crowded settings. This guide breaks down signs & symptoms, real risks, withdrawals, effective treatment, and how to find insurance accepted rehab fast.
What Is Purple Drank (Lean)?
Purple drank—also called lean, sizzurp, syrup, dirty sprite, Texas tea, barre, drank—is typically a mixture of codeine–promethazine cough syrup, soda, and candy. Codeine is an opioid that can slow breathing; promethazine is a sedating antihistamine that adds drowsiness and confusion. Some people pour “double cups,” layer doses, or add alcohol—multiplying danger. Counterfeit bottles or diverted syrups can contain unknown strengths or different ingredients, so the same amount can hit very differently from one night to the next.
Why it turns dangerous so fast
- Breathing suppression: Opioids slow the drive to breathe; alcohol or benzodiazepines can make this worse.
- Hidden potency: Street products vary in concentration; counterfeit syrups may not be what the label claims.
- Heat and dehydration: Parties, clubs, or festivals add strain to the heart and lungs.
- Tolerance and dependence: What worked last week may do nothing today—so people take more, raising overdose risk.
Data snapshot (why the urgency is real)
Poison centers and emergency departments track large numbers of drug-related visits nationally each year, and federal safety communications warn that prescription opioid cough medicines carry boxed warnings for addiction and life-threatening respiratory depression, especially when combined with other depressants. Surveillance dashboards continue to report a heavy national toll from opioid-involved overdoses, underscoring the risk landscape people face today.
History: Where Purple Drank Came From
While the Purple Drink is popular now in all of the cities with big rap scenes, like Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis and so on, it originated in Houston. In fact, Purple Drank dates back to the sixties as blues musicians in Houston’s South Park, 5th Ward and 3rd Ward neighborhoods started drinking Robitussin with beer. When wine coolers became available, they switched to these from beer.
In later generations, rappers in the same neighborhoods adopted the drink. That is when it became lemon-lime soda, specifically, being mixed with Codeine Promethazine syrup and when the Jolly Ranchers were added to the mix.
As the Drank started to find its way into song lyrics, starting with the mixtapes of Houston’s own DJ Screw in 1998, it became more and more known. DJ Screw’s most notable song that references Purple Drank is “Sippin Codeine.”
Ironically, DJ Screw died of a Codeine overdose with other drugs. This didn’t stop the cocktail’s growing popularity, though. Eventually, Lean became a common drug cocktail among rappers across the nation and a popular theme in their music, which often reflected the original “chopped and screwed” style started by DJ Screw and now is often marked by autotune.
In 2013, only 5 percent of American teens confessed to using cough syrup to get high; the figure has now doubled to 10 percent.
Artists and Songs that Mention “Lean”
Purple Drank is mentioned countless times in rap songs — from Jay Z in the 1999 song, Big Pimpin’ featuring UGK, to Young Thug’s 2 Cups Stuffed in 2013. Lean music has been evolving in style as the drink continues to be a part of rap culture.
Three 6 Mafia released the song, Sippin’ on Some Syrup, that was about Lean in 2000. Their 2003 song, Rainbow Colors, is also about the drink. Not too long after in 2005, Beanie Sigel’s Purple Rain says “please don’t blow my high when I’m sippin’ that purple rain” about Purple Drank.
In 2006, Young Buck’s Sippin’ Purp followed. Chamillionaire, in his 2008 song, 2MPH, he talks about the slowed down effect of the drug, singing “sippin’, sippin’ on lean, sippin’, sippin’ on bo.” The trend continued until Lil Wayne, notorious for abusing the cocktail, took Lean music to a whole new level with the song, Me and My Drank, in 2009.
Lil Weazy’s movement was met by rappers like Slim Thug, Lil Flip, Gucci Mane, A$AP Rocky, Future, Soulja Boy and even Justin Beiber. Some of the more recent music about Purple Drank point out the addictive properties of the drug, so maybe there is hope that awareness is spreading. For example, Future says sadly in Codeine Crazy, “I’m an addict and I can’t even hide it.”
Regardless of growing awareness about Purple Drank’s dangers, many rappers and others continue to abuse the concoction well knowing the possible consequences.
Purple Drank is Not Harmless: This Drank Kills
On its own, as the Codeine Promethazine cough syrup with soda, Purple Drank can have serious and deadly side effects, but many people add Alcohol to the mix or take other drugs with it. This makes the drink exponentially more dangerous.
A mix of codeine-promethazine cough syrup with soda—used as a club drug is extremely dangerous because it combines an opioid with a strong sedating antihistamine, leaving a very small gap between “relaxed” and respiratory depression. In loud, crowded venues, sweet liquid dosing is imprecise and delayed effects push people to redose, leading to sudden unconsciousness, vomiting, and slow or stopped breathing. Mixing this club drug with alcohol or benzodiazepines multiplies the risk of overdose, aspiration, coma, and death—and counterfeit syrups may contain fentanyl. If someone is hard to wake, breathing slowly or making gurgling/snoring sounds, or turning blue, call emergency services immediately and place them on their side.
Already, the two active chemicals in Lean suppress the respiratory system and CNS. When Alcohol, another CNS Depressant, is tacked on, the risk for ceased breathing or heart failure only increases.
Teenagers and young people are especially prone to the dangers of Purple Drank. Many individuals in this highly vulnerable population don’t understand the true dangers of Purple, thinking that it is harmless. Many believe that, because it is a prescription and comes from a doctor, it is safe. This, of course, is not true, sadly.
While young people are more impressionable because their decision-making faculty is not yet fully developed, their idols preach about how great Purple Drank is in their favorite songs. The sweet flavor of the soda and the candies in the drink make for a final selling point to the younger crowd.
Of the estimated 2.1 million Americans who are addicted to prescription opioids are abusing Promethazine Codeine.
Lean Addiction: Signs & Symptoms
Behavioral signs & symptoms
- Cravings; using more or more often than planned
- “Pre-mixing” cups or hiding bottles; secrecy about plans or contacts
- Missing work or school; money issues tied to buying syrup
- Mixing with alcohol, pills, or cannabis to “enhance” the effect
Physical signs & symptoms
- Heavy drowsiness; nodding off; slurred speech
- Itchy skin, flushed face, pinpoint pupils
- Nausea, vomiting, constipation, slowed reaction time
- Shallow or slowed breathing, especially when sitting or lying still
Short- and long-term risks
- Respiratory depression and overdose, especially with alcohol or benzodiazepines
- Blackouts, aspiration (vomiting while unconscious), injuries
- Dependence and increasing tolerance; escalating dose to feel “normal”
- Worsening anxiety, depression, or sleep problems between uses
What an overdose looks like—and what to do
- Unresponsiveness, very slow or stopped breathing, pale or blue lips/fingertips, snoring/gurgling sounds, limp body
- Call 911 immediately. Give naloxone (Narcan) if available and repeat as directed.
- Place the person in the recovery position (on their side).
- Do not give more substances to “wake them up.” Stay until help arrives.
Withdrawals: What Early Recovery Feels Like
Lean withdrawals reflect opioid withdrawal patterns: anxiety, sweating, gooseflesh, yawning, teary eyes, runny nose, nausea, diarrhea, body aches, restlessness, and intense cravings. Sleep can be poor for days, and mood can dip. People sometimes chase relief by taking another dose, which restarts the cycle and deepens dependence.
Why medical support helps
- A clinician can assess severity, rule out complications, and provide medications that ease symptoms.
- For some, medications for opioid use disorder (such as buprenorphine or methadone) reduce cravings and stabilize the nervous system.
- Structured routines—hydration, nutrition, sleep hygiene—make the first week safer and more tolerable.
Drinking Muddy Lean Leads to Addiction
As Lil Wayne confesses in his song, I Feel Like Dying, a Codeine addiction will leave you feeling sick, hopeless and lost. When people become dependent on something like Codeine, that is physically and psychologically addictive, their body begins to need the substance to function. To add to the mess, they begin to believe that they need the substance to be happy or to feel normal.
I Feel Like Dying is an eerie song that repeats the refrain “only once the drugs are done do I feel like dying.” Once the drugs leave the body’s system, when addiction has developed, a person will feel physically sick, emotionally depressed and desperate.
Addiction is a downward spiral that just keeps reinforcing itself, a relapsing disorder that requires treatment. Drinking Purple can also lead people to abuse stronger Opioids that are even more dangerous and more prone to chronic addiction, like Heroin. You can ruin your life, though, just by drinking Purple alone without ever moving on to harder stuff.
Rehabilitation for Codeine addiction is available and highly recommended. Drug and Alcohol rehab and other forms of treatment for addiction are the best ways to deal with a Purple Drank problem or any other substance abuse issue. We’ve lost multiple talented artists to Codeine cough syrup concoctions, and way too many youths. It’s time to stop glamorizing addiction of any kind and talk about ways to heal from substance abuse instead.
