This document provides information about the drug PCP (phencyclidine), including its chemical name and street names, common ways of ingesting it, its effects at moderate and high doses, its origins as a medical drug in the 1950s, statistics on usage in the US, risks of using it, and one author's view that it is a dangerous drug due to psychological and physiological effects. It concludes with a discussion question about the prevalence of PCP in the local community.

1. By Matthew Mailhot

2. What is PCP?
 Chemical Name: Phencyclidine
 White crystalline powder (in its pure
form)
 Easily dissolves in water or alcohol
 Bitter tasting
 Schedule II drug

3. Street Names
 Angel Dust
 Boat
 Hog
 Love Boat
 Peace Pill
 Animal Tranquilizer
 Embalming Fluid
 Ozone
 Rocket Fuel
 Wack
 Shermans
 Black Dust
 Cliffhanger
 Crystal T
 Dipper
 Goon Dust
 Happy Sticks
 Lethal Weapon
 Magic Dust
 Peter Pan
 Paz
 Kools

4. Ways PCP is Administered
 Smoked
 Swallowed
 Injected
 Snorted

5. Effects of PCP
Moderate Doses High Doses
 Estranged from surroundings
 Numbness of the extremities
 Slurred speech
 Feelings of strength and
invulnerability
 Auditory hallucinations
 Image distortion
 An exaggerated gait
 Anxiety
 Paranoia
 Violent hostility
 increase in breathing rate
 Drop in blood pressure
 Drop in pulse rate
 Drop in respiration
 Nausea
 Vomiting
 Blurred vision
 flicking up and down of the
eyes
 Drooling,
 Loss of balance
 Dizziness
 Seizures
 Death

6. How PCP Came About
 In the 1950’s PCP was originally brought about to be
an intravenous anesthetic. It’s original medical name
was Sernyl. It had great potential to be successful for
surgery purposes, the only problem was that patients
would go crazy. Common symptoms after surgery
while it was in this testing phase were: jumbled
speech, delirium and hallucinations. Drawbacks of
the drug proved too problematic, so it was removed
from use in 1965. Soon after a “new” drug named
Sernylan came into the market which was simply a
renamed version of PCP and it was marketed as a
veterinary anesthetic. Several other attempts were
made to “repackage” essentially the same product
since then.

7. Who is Using PCP?
 6 million U.S. residents aged 12 and older
have reported using PCP at least once in
their life
 225,000 individual aged 12-17 and 777,000
individuals aged 18-25 have used PCP at
least once.
 More than 3% of high school seniors in the
U.S. have used the drug at least once.
 These number are from the “National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse”

8. Risks of PCP
 Very addictive substance
 It results in psychological dependence
 Cravings
 Compulsive behavior
 Users often become violent or suicidal
 Use amongst teens can negatively affect
hormones associated with normal growth
 Long term use can lead to memory loss,
difficulty with speech or thought,
depression or weight loss.

9. My Thoughts
 PCP in my opinion is one of the more dangerous drugs.
Although it does not seem to be physically addicting like
some drugs, it is heavily psychologically addicting. PCP is
a depressant meaning that it slows your body down. It
lowers your heart rate and decreases your respiration as
well as your blood pressure. These are potentially very
serious effects that can lead to very harmful
complications. Like many drugs, the user gains a
tolerance to PCP, meaning that you need more and more
of it to get the same high. If taken in high enough doses
this stuff can cause cardiac failure. PCP also produces
psychological side effects, but It’s the physiological ones
that play havoc with your internal organs that I believe
makes this one of the most dangerous recreational drugs.

10. Quote
 The author of one of my sources said “For many users, a
more immediate danger involves the "behavioral toxicity"
of the drug”. She explains that the dumb, stupid behavior
such as car accidents and drowning that usually occur
with the use of this drug are one of the more serious
consequences. Sometimes I wonder how effective and
fair our drug laws are, that someone can have their whole
life ruined through our justice system because of a
mistake that effects only their own life. However when
people start negatively affecting other’s lives once on
drugs like crashing into them with a car, there should
definitely be consequences. I also think this is one of the
most serious side effects because the behavior that
comes out of this drug has the potential to harm innocent
bystanders.

11. Discussion Question
 Do you believe that PCP is a common
drug in our community, either in WSU or
Worcester as a whole?

12. Sources
 Burns RS, Lerner S, Corrado R. Drugs.com. 5 May
2014. 9 November 2014
<http://www.drugs.com/illicit/pcp.html>.
 National Drug Intelligence Center. 1 January 2006. 9
November 2014
<http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs4/4440/#W
hat>.
 NIDA. March 2011. 9 November 2014
<http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/commonly-abused-
drugs-charts/commonly-abused-drugs-chart>.
 Turney, Lisa. Do It Now. October 2012. 9 November
2014 <http://www.doitnow.org/pages/123.html>.