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OTHER NAMES FOR PHENCYCLIDINE:
Some common names for Phencyclidine are: Angel Dust, Busy
Bee, Butt Naked, Cliffhanger, Crystal Joint, Devil's Dust,
Dummy Dust, Elephant Tranquilizer, Energizer, Gorilla Biscuits,
Heaven & Hell, Horse Tranquilizer, Lethal Weapon, Mad
Dog, Madman, Mint Weed, Monkey Tranquilizer, Peace Pill, Peter
Pan, Star Dust, Super Weed, Wolf, Worm, Zombie Weed.
PCP is a white crystalline powder that is
readily soluble in water or alcohol. It has a distinctive
bitter chemical taste. PCP can be mixed easily with dyes and
is often sold on the illicit drug market in a variety of tablet,
capsule, and colored powder forms that are normally snorted,
smoked, or orally ingested. For smoking, PCP is often applied
to a leafy material such as mint, parsley, oregano, or marijuana.
Depending upon how much and by what route PCP is taken, its
effects can last approximately 4–6 hours.
.
How Does PCP Affect the Brain?
PCP is a “dissociative drug,” meaning that it
distorts perceptions of sight and sound and produces feelings
of detachment (dissociation) from the environment and self.
First introduced as a street drug in the 1960s, PCP quickly
gained a reputation as a drug that could cause bad reactions
and was not worth the risk. However, some abusers continue
to use PCP due to the feelings of strength, power, and invulnerability
as well as a numbing effect on the mind that PCP can induce.
Among the adverse psychological effects reported are:
• Symptoms that mimic schizophrenia, such as delusions,
hallucinations, paranoia, disordered thinking, and a sensation
of distance from one’s environment.
• Mood disturbances: Approximately 50 percent of individuals
brought to emergency rooms because of PCP-induced problems—related
to use within the past 48 hours—report significant elevations
in anxiety symptoms.
• People who have abused PCP for long periods of time
have reported memory loss, difficulties with speech and thinking,
depression, and weight loss. These symptoms can persist up
to one year after stopping PCP abuse.
• Addiction: PCP is addictive—its repeated abuse
can lead to craving and compulsive PCP-seeking behavior, despite
severe adverse consequences.
What Other Adverse Effects Do PCP Have on Health?
At low-to-moderate doses, physiological effects of PCP include
a slight increase in breathing rate and a pronounced rise in
blood pressure and pulse rate. Breathing becomes shallow; flushing
and profuse sweating, generalized numbness of the extremities,
and loss of muscular coordination may occur.
At high doses, blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration
drop. This may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, blurred
vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of
balance, and dizziness. PCP abusers are often brought to emergency
rooms because of overdose or because of the drug’s severe
untoward psychological effects. While intoxicated, PCP abusers
may become violent or suicidal and are therefore dangerous
to themselves and others. High doses of PCP can also cause
seizures, coma, and death (though death more often results
from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication).
Because PCP can also have sedative effects, interactions with
other central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol
and benzodiazepines, can also lead to coma.
What Treatment Options Exist?
There is very little published data on treatment outcomes
for PCP intoxication. Doctors should consider that acute adverse
reactions may be the result of drug synergy with alcohol.7
Current research efforts to manage a life-threatening PCP
overdose are focused on a passive immunization approach through
the development of anti-PCP antibodies.8 There are no specific
treatments for PCP abuse and addiction, but inpatient and/or
behavioral treatments can be helpful for patients with a variety
of addictions, including that to PCP.
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we are here to provide you with support and guidance, 24 hours
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abuse, adolescent addiction, teen behavior, or other related
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