PCP Is a Psychedelic Amphetamine

PCP is a psychedelic amphetamine drug, known medically as Phencyclidine, and known on the streets primarily as "angel dust." Other popular street names include crystal, elephant, peace pill, surfer, scuffle and super weed (Cann & De Belleroche, 2002, p. 132). It was originally invented to be an anesthetic in surgery for large animals such as horses in the 1950s. In 1963 it began to be used for human patients as a surgical anesthetic, however because it had dangerous side-effects, it was taken off the market just two years later. The side effects included patients getting extremely irrational and agitated, some almost to the point of appearing as if they were in a psychotic rage or suffered from schizophrenia (Henderson, 2000).

PCP is not the typical anesthetic that puts people to sleep during their surgery. It is actually what is known as a "dissociative anesthetic" because it dissociates the mind from the body. As Landry (1994) explains, "Patients retain a level of consciousness but are unconcerned about the surgery" (p. 102).

Despite being taken off the market in 1965, PCP became a popular street drug in the 1960s. In the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco at the height of the hippie culture and during the heyday of the psychedelic drug LSD, PCP tablets found their way into the counter-culture. It was not called Angel Dust at this time, it was mostly known the PeaCe Pill.

For a while, bad press essentially killed the popularity of the "PeaCe Pill" as news stories about people thinking they could fly and jumping out of windows, and other sensational headlines turned even the most experimental young people against it. The stories about PCP are amazingly bizarre and have kept many people away from the drug entirely. Looking at this report by Litovitz (n.d.) it is easy to see why:

"Perhaps the hallmark of PCP intoxication is the recurring delusion of superhuman strength and invulnerability resulting from the analgesic and dissociative properties of the drug. Intoxicated patients have been known to snap handcuffs and, unarmed, attack, large groups of people or police officers. This loss of fear has led patients to try to stop a train by standing in front of it, to grossly mutilate themselves and others, to climb into a polar bear's cave to take a picture, and to jump from windows or cliffs. The bizarre behavior is often violent, sometimes with gruesome mutilation of both the patient and his or her victim. One intoxicated abuser pulled out his front teeth with a pair of pliers. Another woman fried her baby in cooking oil."

PCPs journey into obscurity only lasted a few years because in the early 1970s, PCP re-emerged as a white, crystalline powder going by the much more pleasant sounding name of Angel Dust. It stayed relatively popular throughout the 1970s, but it never reached the level of rampant use that LSD and marijuana did, probably because many of the horror stories continued to circulate (Henderson, 2000).

Today, PCP use has gone way down compared to the 1960s and 70s. The following graph shows the steady decline in PCP use by high school seniors in the United States between 1979 and 2003:

Source: Erowid.org, http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/pcp/pcp_stats.shtml

Just because the use is declining does not mean that PCP is still not a major problem. According to the Utah Department of Human Services, a 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that "3.2% of the population aged 12 and older have used PCP at least once. Lifetime use of PCP was highest among those aged 26 or older (3.5%), compared with people aged 18 to 25 (2.7%) and those aged 12 to 17 (0.9%)." While these numbers may seem relatively low compared to many other illegal drugs, it is important to remember that the danger level of PCP is actually much higher than most drugs. and, it seems to be getting more dangerous as the years go on. According to the Utah Department of Human Services, a 2002 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) study showed that "PCP mentions in emergency departments increased 28% from 1995 to 2002. There was a 42% increase from the 5,404 mentions in 2000 to 7,648 in 2002."

So why do people use PCP when the risks are so high? According to Landry (1994) "the sought-after effects of PCP intoxication include increased sensitivity to external stimuli, stimulation of mood and behavior, and a sense of intoxication. PCP intoxication invariably involves distortions of sensory perceptions, such as visual distortions, illusions, pseudohallucinations, and hallucinations. PCP intoxication often involves ego boundary distortions, especially a dissociation of the mind from the body and 'out of body' experiences" (p. 103). While this may not sound like much fun to most people, apparently the feelings of disconnection are a desire of people who feel the need to completely escape the problems of their everyday lives. Unfortunately, not only is PCP highly addictive, but it can also cause psychotic breaks and other severe mental health problems, as well as physical problems such as nerve deterioration and impaired sensory perception.

PCP use can actually mimic many of the symptoms of schizophrenia. This is due to a unique chemical reaction, which Cann & De Belleroche (2002) describes as follows: "The site of action of PCP and ketamine only emerged with the elucidation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptor. This is an ion channel-linked receptor which gates both Na+ and Ca2+ when activated. This receptor is now known to play an important role in the process of long-term potentiation whereby, after an initial stimulus, subsequent challenges cause an enhanced synaptic response which is maintained for several hours" (p. 132). The several hours that the effects of PCP can last represent either a benefit for recreational users who enjoy its effects, or a nightmare for those who experience the "dark side" of the drug.