SPRINGFIELD - Ashley Boes' family will never be the same after her cousin died from something found in almost every home.

Boes brought her story Thursday to an Illinois House committee, saying she thinks a common cough medicine ingredient, dextromethorphan, also known as DXM, should be banned.

State lawmakers are targeting the sale, delivery, distribution and possession of DXM, which can be bought with a credit card on the Internet. The drug can be found in products such as Coricidin cold tablets and Robitussin cough syrup, but the proposed ban would affect only the pure powder form of the drug.

Overdoses linked to DXM have caused at least two deaths in Illinois.

"I want to help prevent DXM from destroying another family," said Boes, her voice cracking with emotion as she spoke.

Boes is a junior at Oakland High School. Her cousin, Eric Richardson, died in 2004 after overdosing on DXM supplied by a friend who bought it on the Internet.

"I want to do everything possible to make this drug illegal," she said. "This drug should not be able to be bought so easily."

Linda and Greg Frary of Peoria, whose son Jonathan overdosed in 2003 on DXM he purchased via the Internet, also tried to persuade lawmakers to ban the drug. Linda Frary explained why Jonathan, a 22-year-old psychology student at Illinois State University, was taking the substance.

"Jonathan apparently thought he could use this legal drug to enhance his dreams," his mother said. "During the time he used DXM, he recorded the amount taken along with the timing of the doses, along with the effects."

Greg Frary went online after his son's death to find how easily DXM can be purchased and found out about its dangerous effects, such as high blood pressure, loss of motor control, seizures, coma and death.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said the use of DXM to get high appears to be growing across the country. The U.S. Poison Control centers received more than 3,000 related calls in 2003, said Brady, who is sponsoring the legislation with state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

The committee unanimously recommended the proposal to the full House for its consideration. The legislation is House bill 4300.

Chris Lusvardi can be reached at Chris.Lusvardi@;lee.net or 789-0865