PCP

Details
  • PCP stands for its chemical name phencyclidine.
  • It is classified as a hallucinogen
  • PCP is a “dissociative” anesthetic developed in the 1950s as a surgical anesthetic. Its sedative and anesthetic effects are trance-like - this means that users experience a feeling of being “out of body” and detached from their environment.
  • PCP is a white crystalline powder that is readily soluble in water or alcohol. It has a distinctive bitter chemical taste.
  • PCP turns up on the illicit drug market in a variety of tablets, capsules, and colored powders. PCP can be snorted, smoked, injected, or swallowed and is most commonly sold as a powder or liquid and applied to a leafy material such as mint, parsley, oregano, tobacco, or marijuana. 
  • Many people who use PCP may do it unknowingly because PCP is often used as an additive and can be found in marijuana, LSD, or methamphetamine.

Other names for PCP include: Angel Dust, Embalming Fluid, Killer Weed, Killer Joints, Rocket Fuel, Supergrass, Wack, Ozone, PeaCe Pill, Hog, Lovely, Dust (Supergrass and Killer Joints are names that refer to PCP combined with marijuana).

Effects
  • A low to moderate dose of PCP can cause distinct changes in body awareness, similar to those associated with alcohol intoxication.
  • Users may also experience shallow breathing, flushing, profuse sweating, generalised numbness of the extremities and poor muscular coordination.
  • A high dose of PCP can cause hallucinations as well as seizures, coma, and death (though death more often results from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication).
  • PCP at a high dose can also cause: nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness.
  • High doses can also cause effects similar to symptoms of schizophrenia, such as delusions, paranoia, disordered thinking, a sensation of distance from one’s environment, and catatonia. Speech is often sparse and garbled.
Risks
  • Use of PCP among adolescents may interfere with hormones related to normal growth and development as well as with the learning process.
  • PCP has sedative effects, and interactions with other central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol and benzodiazepines, can lead to coma or accidental overdose.
  • PCP is addicting; that is, its repeated use often leads to psychological dependence, craving, and compulsive PCP-seeking behavior.
  • People who use PCP for long periods report memory loss, difficulties with speech and thinking, depression, and weight loss. These symptoms can persist up to a year after cessation of PCP use.
  • Users have also reported suffering from mood disorders.
Further Resources
Links