PCP (Phencyclidine)
PCP History And Information
PCP is classified as dissociative anesthesia. When using it, a person is aware of pain, pressure, and touch but the brain does not register them as such.
It was first synthesized in 1926. That year, a report that described the reaction of 1-piperidinocyclohexanecarbonitrile (PCC) with Grignard reagents was presented.
The resulting compound was 1-(1-phencyclohexyl) piperidine (the name was shortened an it became known as phencyclidine). The name PCP is an acronym from the drug's chemical name 1-(1-PhenCyclohexyl) Piperidine .
Nothing significant was done with phencyclidine from the time it was first synthesized until 30 years later, when in 1956, PCP began to be seriously studied for possible medical uses.
At first phencyclidine was tested on animals to reduce or eliminate pain. The findings showed it might prove effective as anesthesia (blocking the perception of pain and other sensations).
In 1960, US and British patents were assigned to Parke-Davis and Company for the legal production of phencyclidine. It was then synthesized by the company under the name of Sernyl, the name said to be derived from serenity.
Parke-Davis applied to the federal government to start human studies with the drug. When the federal government gave the ok for the drug to be tested on humans, it was tested as an intravenous medication.
PCP was tested on patients to calm them before surgery, to stop pain and sensation during surgery, to relieve pain after surgery, and to ease pain in extreme cases (burn patients, etc).
It was a good anesthetic and although useful, due to its low potential for depressing respiration in therapeutic doses, its value was seriously questioned. Patients, after surgery, had problems like jumbled speech, delirium, disoriented behavior, agitation, and hallucinations.
Hallucinations were generally of a feeling of weightlessness or some other feeling of distorted body sensations. Many users talked about out of body experiences.
Sometimes phencyclidine is mistakenly classified as a hallucinogen. It takes very large doses of PCP to produce hallucinations like LSD, mescaline, magic mushrooms and other similar drugs.
Because of the adverse effects of the drug, Parke-Davis discontinued all human testing in 1965. The drug company changed the name Sernyl to Sernylan, and PCP was marketed as a veterinary anesthetic.
In the late 1960's, phencyclidine started being used as a recreational drug in the usa. Many people were unprepared for the effects of PCP and had a very unpleasant experience.
After trying it, people would warn others not to do it. First sold as the peace pill in San Francisco, it earned such a bad reputation, use was non-existent within a year.
But the drug was cheap to produce or obtain and very potent. In the early-mid 1970s, it was again being sold to drug users. Rather than being sold as a pill, it was available as a liquid or in the form of a crystalline powder called angel dust.
A small amount of angel dust mixed into some low quality marijuana (or any other smokeable substance) produced powerful effects. Dealers started selling the PCP and marijuana mixture for high prices. People couldn't believe how strong it was.
Because drug users were staying away from the drug known as PCP, various forms of the drug began being sold as other drugs. PCP has been sold as mescaline, psilocybin, LSD, amphetamine, cocaine, crystal THC, and almost every other drug there is.
The drug is so cheap and powerful that it can make an extreme profit if it can be sold as something more expensive. For less than $1 someone could sell a small amount of PCP as $25 worth of cocaine. If the buyer had never done cocaine before, they might even think they got good stuff.
Unfortunately, the effects of PCP have caused users that thought they ingested a drug like cocaine to do some very crazy things. Imagine a person who has previous experience with cocaine.
They know what it feels like and are expecting to feel a certain way after taking it. If this person took a large dose of PCP (thinking it was cocaine) they would have a bad experience.
Many people thought they had been poisoned and were going to die. Making matters worse, the effects of PCP have been described as a living death or in similar terms.
In the mid-1970's, a string of violent deaths occurred because of this kind of mis-representation of PCP. It became the focus of sensationalized television and newspaper stories.
Some members of the population were convinced that PCP would soon ruin the world unless something was done. Considering the amount of PCP being consumed by people who didn't know they were taking the drug, there were few actual cases of extreme violent behavior.
However, several of the incidents were so bizarre and shocking (man peels all the skin off his face - and lives) that in 1978-79, Sernylan was withdrawn from the market in most countries. After that, illicit laboratories became the sole source of PCP.
In its pure form, PCP is a white crystalline powder that readily dissolves in water. However, most PCP on the illicit market contains a number of contaminates as a result of makeshift manufacturing, causing the color to range from tan to brown, the consistency varies from powder to a gummy mass.
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Books PCP:
The Dangerous Angel
Fairly comprehensive overview of PCP, although it is biased against drugs. A view of the history of PCP. From it's first synthesis as a surgical anesthetic to veterinary anesthetic to street drug. Describes the chemical properties of phencyclidine, the physical and psychological effects, and more.
PCP: The Dangerous Angel
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