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PCP (Phencyclidine)

PCP (phencyclidine) is a dissociative drug with volatile effects that often causes users to become delusional, agitated, or irrational. The drug was first tested as a surgical anesthetic in the years following World War II, and was later marketed as a veterinary anesthetic – but in both cases it was withdrawn from use due to its detrimental side effects.

About the Drug

As a recreational drug, PCP comes in both powder and liquid forms and can be snorted, eaten, or smoked. The most common method of ingestion is to spray the liquid onto marijuana, oregano, or parsley leaves, and then smoke the combined substances. Smoking the drug in this manner is referred to as “getting wet,” and the PCP liquid itself is often referred to as “embalming fluid” – though formaldehyde (which is a central component of actual embalming fluid) is not present.

PCP users may experience numbness, impaired coordination, bloodshot eyes, and slurred speech. Psychological effects include hallucinations and euphoria, in addition to changes in body image and a feeling that one is detached from one’s body, or observing one’s own mental processes from a distance.

Extent of Use

According to the most recent edition of the annual Monitoring the Future study on youth behavior and attitudes toward drug abuse, 2.1 percent of high school seniors report having used PCP at least once in their lives, while 0.9 percent said they had used the drug in the previous twelve months. No data was available on PCP use among eighth-graders and high school sophomores (the two other age groups who are surveyed for the MTF report).

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that in 2006, more than 6.5 million Americans over the age of 11 (2.7 percent of the nation’s population) had reported using PCP at least once in their lifetimes.

Health Hazards

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that the following are among the most dangerous adverse effects associated with PCP abuse:

  • Symptoms that mimic schizophrenia, such as delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, disordered thinking, and a sensation of distance from one’s environment.
  • Mood disturbances. For example, approximately 50 percent of individuals presenting for drug-induced problems in an emergency room setting and meeting criteria for PCP use in the past 48 hours reported significant elevations in anxiety symptoms.
  • Memory loss, difficulties with speech and thinking, depression, and weight loss. Heavy, long-term users are particularly prone to these effects, which can last up to a 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.

At low to moderate doses, PCP causes a slight increase in breathing rate and a more pronounced rise in blood pressure and pulse rate. Some experts also believe that PCP use among adolescents may interfere with hormones related to normal growth and development, as well as with the learning ability of the young users.

Users who ingest high doses of PCP experience a drop in blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration. This may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness. High doses of PCP can also cause seizures, coma, and death (though death more often results from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication). Psychological effects at high doses include illusions and hallucinations.

Treatment

NIDA reports that no specific treatments exist for PCP abuse or addiction, but that standard inpatient addiction recovery protocols or outpatient behavioral therapies can be helpful.

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