SWEET HOME - A rash of Benadryl overdoses at Sweet Home High School has prompted a special assembly and a warning from the principal to parents.

Principal Pat Stineff said school officials have had to call medics on three separate occasions in the past few weeks to treat students who were suffering the effects of taking too many of the antihistamine pills.

Stineff said she received another report of a Benadryl overdose after the assembly. She said she is sending out a letter this week to make parents aware of the potential health concern.

Ian Rollins, spokesman for Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, confirmed this morning the hospital has seen "a few" cases of Benadryl overdoses among teens lately. All patients were treated and released, he said.

Benadryl is a non-prescription allergy medicine that works, in part, by increasing a person's heart rate, said Battalion Chief Doug Emmert of the Sweet Home Fire Department. Emmert and other fire and police officials led the assembly Feb. 20 at the high school to warn students about the misuse of any drug.

"Drugs that are usually harmless, over-the-counter drugs like Benadryl, if not taken properly, turn into something completely different," Emmert said.

Taken improperly, Benadryl can cause nausea and vomiting and disturb heart rhythms, Emmert said. If enough is taken, particularly if it's mixed with alcohol or other medications, it can kill.

Emmert said he'd heard students were taking multiple Benadryl tablets to get high and hallucinate.

"I told them it might sound fun to see weird things. But what if you decide to drive and see one of these weird things, and swerve off the road and kill some innocent family?" Emmert said.

Students must have parent permission to consume medication on campus, and only trained office staff may administer it, Stineff said.

At least four students Stineff knows of have misused Benadryl, taking multiple pills and sometimes combining them with high energy drinks or with alcohol.

"We found a couple in the hall, one of them wandering aimlessly, the other crumpled on the floor," she said.

The fire department asked to hold the assembly because of the growing concern, Emmert said. He said the idea was to encourage students to use the information responsibly and was saddened to hear of another case just days after his presentation.

"Obviously it didn't work for everybody," he said.