PCP
Lean more about PCP, the dissociative drug sought after for its hallucinogenic effects.
Overview
Common Nicknames
Angel dust, hog, wack. With marijuana: supergrass, killer joints, dipper, whacko tobacco. With MDMA: Elephant flip. With cocaine: Missile base.
Drug Class
Hallucinogen, Anaesthetic
Drug Form
White powder, liquid for injecting
Route of Administration
Smoking, insufflation, injection, ingestion
What is the science of PCP?
PCP, or angel dust was the first man-made, non-natural drug of abuse. PCP is chemically similar to the drug ketamine, and can also induce a dissociative state. It acts simultaneously as a stimulant, depressant, hallucinogen, and anaesthetic (sedative). It has these effects by antagonising glutamate ion channels in the brain, which mediate excitatory neurotransmission.
What are the risks?
At high doses PCP can cause coma, seizures and convulsions, and death. Due to the acute state of psychosis it induces, there are many risks to yourself and others whilst you are under the influence such as violent and unpredictable behaviour. Physically, as stated above some of the negative side effects will be long-term and can damage your body and brain.
PCP can cause hypertension (high blood pressure) and tachycardia (fast heart rate) and can have serious cardiovascular symptoms, such as cardiac arrest. Rhabdomyolysis is seen in roughly 2.5% of people admitted to hospital with PCP intoxication. This is when myoglobin is released from the muscles into the blood stream causing damage to the kidneys, or even kidney failure. The exact causes are unknown but could occur as a result of intense muscle contractions caused by PCP or due to PCP acting directly at the muscles. Rhabdomyolysis can be identified by dark, reddish urine and sore or weak muscles and requires immediate medical attention.
It is thought that doses exceeding 25mg will cause overdose and the side effects will become severe, and you will become catatonic. There is not a specific antidote for PCP overdose. If you have taken too much by mouth, activated charcoal is sometimes given, because it has been shown to absorb PCP in the stomach. Once the person having an overdose is in hospital they will likely be given a sedative and/or physical restraints and IV fluids to maintain homeostasis.
How might the drug make you feel?
PCP is a dissociative anaesthetic which can make you feel joyful, happy, euphoric, floating, and also start to hallucinate and see and hear things that aren’t really there. However, side effects include: numbness, amnesia, rage, slurred speech, muscle dysfunction, impaired speech, skin dryness, tachycardia, sweating, rapid involuntary eye movements (nystagmus), a blank stare, paranoia/confusion.
Is PCP addictive, and what are the long-term effects?
PCP is an addictive drug, at high doses it also puts you at risk of coma, seizure, and death. PCP is both physically and psychologically addictive, many people use in order to chase a high that makes you feel detached from your own body.
Long-term, continued use of PCP can permanently affect your brain. It can change how neurotransmitters in the brain send and receive signals. This can cause frontal lobe syndrome where you have memory issues, trouble paying attention and judging reality. It can impact your dopamine receptors leaving you in a state on synaesthesia (feeling like you’re constantly floating and smelling and tasting colours). It can boost enkephalins making you feel less stressed and pain free. Finally, it can cause long term psychosis and schizophrenia-like symptoms such as delusions, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts. This is called toxic psychosis.
Harm Reduction and Drug-Drug Interactions
If you are going to take PCP, as with any drug, start with a small dose and only re-dose if you feel okay. Injection remains the most dangerous route of administration but if you do take this route, do not share needles and always use clean ones. Do not take PCP alone, it is much safer to be with a sober person in case of overdose or violent and unpredictable behaviour, paranoia or delusions. Do not mix with other drugs or alcohol, the effects will be significantly potentiated. Finally, drink plenty of water, because PCP can make you sweat a lot and so you may become dehydrated.
Do not mix with other drugs or alcohol, the effects will be significantly potentiated. The effects of PCP are very intense, and so mixing with any other class of drugs could be dangerous. Primarily the worst drugs to mix with PCP are other CNS depressant such as opioids, alcohol, and benzodiazepines because of the risks of whole body depression.
Medical Uses
Not many drugs have had such an impact on society in both good and bad ways. When PCP was first developed as an anaesthetic, it didn’t bring about the effects that were hoped for as a new common medical treatment, due to the psychosis that it induced. However, PCP-induced psychosis gave way to the NMDA receptor hypofunction theory of schizophrenia and is now a commonly used paradigm to study schizophrenia in animal research. PCP also gave way to the discovery of ketamine, which is now used to treat treatment resistant depression. On the contrary, it also led to the production of designer drugs such as MXE.
Myths and Misconceptions
PCP will make you violent
Violent behaviour is often associated with PCP use, however the actual prevalence of PCP-induced violence is debated. Many who disagree with the idea that PCP makes people violent point out that the majority of research into PCP and violence works with PCP users who have been incarcerated or hospitalized and could only represent the more extreme examples of PCP abuse. Additionally, when PCP users in the general population are studied, many authors agree that violence in PCP users is much less common than is portrayed in the media. Nevertheless, there are many reports of violent behaviour being exacerbated with PCP use, and so it cannot be ruled out that it is a real possibility.
History
PCP was first developed as an anaesthetic in the 1950s, but due to its profound effects on psychological state it was discontinued in the 1960s. It was making patients feel agitated, delusional, irrational and experience severe hallucinations. In the late 1960s the drug started to appear on the recreational scene, due to reports of its psychedelic like hallucinations. However, it is a dangerous drug that can have severe health impacts and media reports in the 1970s in America called it the “the most dangerous drug in America. It is used less at the present day, but is sometimes laced into marijuana cigarettes.