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░ Definition
Angel Dust, Hog, Rocket Fuel, DOA, Peace Pill… are other names for the Phencyclidine (PCP), illegal drug developed in the 1950s as an anesthetic.
PCP is classified as a dissociative anesthetic because users appear to be “disconnected” from their environment: they know where they are, but they do not feel as if they are part of it.
░ Effects of PCP
The drug has different effects on different people. It can act as a stimulant, a depressant, an analgesic (decreasing pain) or a hallucinogen depending on the dose and the way it is administered.
PCP can be eaten, snorted, injected or smoked. Depending on how a person takes the drug, the effects are felt within a few minutes (2-5 minutes when smoked) to an hour. PCP can stay in a person's body for a long time; the half-life of PCP ranges from 11 to 51 hours.
Tolerance and dependence on PCP are possible. Withdrawal symptoms include diarrhea, chills, tremors.
In low doses:
Feelings of euphoria (well-being), relaxation, numbness, sensory distortions, feelings of detachment from one's own body, anxiety, confusion, amnesia, illogical speech, blurred vision, blank stare.
In medium doses:
Confusion, agitation, analgesia, fever, excessive salivation, "schizophrenic-type" behaviour.
In high doses:
Seizures, respiratory failure, coma, fever, stroke, even death.
The behaviour:
Users are often characterized as violent or suicidal. However, this portrait of a PCP user may not be accurate: Dr. Jaime Diaz, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington, states that the reported violent behaviour is not due to the pharmacological effect of PCP, but rather is the result of the way people under the influence of PCP perceive things: users may not feel pain and their perception of sensory stimuli may be altered.
░ The brain
PCP affects multiple neurotransmitter systems in the brain. For example, PCP inhibits the reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin and also inhibits the action of glutamate by blocking NMDA receptors. Some types of opioid receptors in the brain are also affected by PCP.
░ Important: Unknown amount… unexpected effect
The use of PCP as an anesthetic stopped and it was declared illegal when people experienced psychotic reactions after using the drug. Now, PCP has found its way onto the street, often contaminating other street drugs. In fact, PCP is often sold in place of drugs such as LSD and mescaline, but the effects produced by PCP are different: rather than producing visual hallucinations, PCP causes changes in body image.
Anyway, the effects of PCP depend on the amount taken. Furthermore, because PCP is made illegally under uncontrolled conditions, users have no way of knowing how much PCP they are taking. This makes PCP especially dangerous.
More information (University of Washington) >>
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