PCP
...t not feel as though they are a part of their environment. This particular drug can have various effects on different people. For some it may act like a stimulant, a depressant, a pain reliever, or even a hallucinogen. These effects may vary due to the dosage and the way that it is administered. If a person smokes the PCP, its effects are felt within two to five minutes. It is capable of staying in a persons system for a long time. The drugs half-life ranges from 11-51 hours (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pcp.html). PCP is made under illegal and uncontrolled conditions people who use this drug have no way to know the amount of PCP that they are actually putting into their bodies. People often tend to label PCP users as violent or even suicidal. According to Dr. Jaime Diaz, a professor of Psychology at the University of Washington, those views may not be accurate. He says that the use of PCP rarely results in any violence and states that: "Phencyclidine does not cause aggression or criminal behavior" (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pcp.html). He imagines that the violent behavior may be due to the way people under the influence perceive things and the way they are treated by law officials. Those who are being arrested may not be able to feel pain wile under the influence of PCP. This may explain why people may act violent when being placed under arrest. When under the influence a person may experience the loss of hand-eye coordination, or they may feel very physically powerful and invincible. The more noticeable effects of PCP may include: rapid eye movements, blank stares, exaggerated pace, hearing delusions, and the distortion of images, mood swings, and even amnesia. Some PCP users may experience anxiety or paranoia, even cruel aggression, while others can produce a psychoses like schizophrenia (streetdrugs.org). Wrong mixtures of PCP can produce byproducts that are very toxic. This can cause abdominal cramping, bloody emesis, coma and even death. Two women got hold of a chicken that had been experimentally treated with PCP, they suffered from mental symptoms but lived.(www.Erowid.com) Until 1971 there were no reported deaths from the ingestion of PCP. "In 1972 a 19 year old man was found dead in his room. His clothing contained 10 packets of PCP, each assaying between 2.0 and 3.5 mg of PCP. Visceral congestion and posterior lobe pneumonia were found at autopsy. Analyses confirmed the presence of 70 mg of PCP in the gastric contents; the urine contained 3.8 mg, the liver 0.09 mg, the lungs 0.04 mg, the blood 0.03 mg, the brain and the kidney 0.01 mg per cent. No other drug was detected in the stomach contents, urine or liver" (http:www.erowid.org/chemicals/pcp/references/journal/1974_munch_bulletin-narcotics_1/1974_munch_bulletin-narcotics_1_text.shtml). Many have suggested Haloperidol to adjust the effects of PCP. The administration of succinates has been tested and proven as a remedy for the effects of the drug. One women even experienced mental breakthrough or clearing after oral administration. (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pcp.html) In 1978, PCP was changed from a Schedule III to a Schedule II drug under the controlled substances act. Due to this legislation, just about all of the PCP on the streets is manufactured in secret laboratories rather then diverted from legal sources. Many areas in the US have graduated from the powder form of PCP to the liquid form. Liquid PCP is a yellowish-tan color, and much easier to manufacture then the powdered form. PCP in the liquid form retains a high volatility because of it’s higher concentration of ether in it’s chemical makeup. Along with the rescheduling of the drug in 1978, the penalties have increased for manufacturing, sale, and possession, to deter people from the use of PCP.(Lyman, pg35-36) PCP is classified as a hallucinogen, along with LSD, Peyote(mescaline), MDMA(Ecstasy), and Mushrooms. Hallucinogens have been around in one form or another for hundreds of years, they first became popular in the 1960's. They are either found in...