From: garbett@utkvx.utk.edu (Garbett, Shawn)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: RE: PCP info sought possible FAQ beginnings
Date: 6 Jan 1995 22:57 EST
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

From several sources I've heard that PCP is making a reappearence on
the drug scene. 

I have some excerts from _Clinical_Management_of_Poisoning_and_Drug_
Overdose by Haddad Winchester. A thourghly excellent reference,
with very few errors, those errors that I have found (only one) is
understandable due to lack of information at the time of printing.

Chapter 33 Phencyclidine (PCP) written by Toby L. Litovitz, M.D. pg. 448-455

.. History of PCP as a anesthetic, but that it produced psychotic reactions
in 15 to 20 percent of patients for 3 to 18 hours.
Then a short history of its debut in San Francisco as PeaCe Pill and Hog.

... Now back to the text:

In the early 1970s, phencyclidine reappeared on the streets, this time as a
drug of deceit. Since it was easily and cheaply synthesized in clandestine
"kitchen" laboratories without the risk of illegal importation, it was
frequently substituted for and sold on the street as THC, cannabinol,
mescaline, psilocybin, LSD, amphetamine, cocaine, Hawaiian woodrose, and
other psychedelics. In fact, in one study only 3 per cent of analyzed street
drug samples that contined PCP were actually sold as PCP. THC, which actually
is not available on the street, was the most frequent misrepresenatation.

.... More text on it's use through the 70s ...

Considerable conflicting evidence exists in the literature regarding the
mechanism of action of phencyclidine. Phencyclidine is thought to stimulate
alpha-adrenergic receptors and to potentiate the pressor response to
epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Other studies have shown
phencyclidine to have brief low level anticholinergic activity during the
intial phase of intoxication. Phencyclidine is also thought to inhibit
acetyl- and butyryl-cholinesterase. Others postulate that phencyclidine may
act on opiate receptors.

Phencyclidine abusers feel the onset of drug effect in 2 to 5 minutes when it
is smoked, compared with 30 to 60 minutes when ingested orally. The peak
effect is reached in 15 to 30 minutes after smoking the drug and abusers 
report that they stay "loaded" for 4 to 6 hours, then feel normal in 24 to
48 hours. 

...

PCC (1-piperidinocyclohexanecarbonitrile) appears in poorly synthesized
batches as a by-product of the manufacturing process. When present in 
significant amounts (10 to 25 per cent), this contaminant causes
abdominal cramps, bloody emesis, diarrhea, and coma. PCC is an unstable 
compound, degrading to piperidine. As a result, contaminated batches of
PCP can sometimes be recognized by the strong fishy odor of piperidine.
On heating (smoking), PCC liberates hydrogen cyanide, so the possibility
of cyanide poisoning in PCP smokers should also be considered.

..

Patients ingesting small amounts of phencyclidine present prominent
body image distortions (enlarging limbs, detached head) on a background
of sensory blockade described as a "numbness", depersonalization,
"sheer nothingness" or "endless isolation". These patients feel inebriated,
are usually disoriented, and sometimes have amnesia for the experience.
Somatic sensation is dissociated: patients lose track of their bodies and
are at risk of seriously injuring themselves because they do not perceive
pain. Though visual, auditory, and tactile illusions and delusions (especially
of being God, the devil, or an animal) are common, frank hallucinations are
relatively uncommon when compared with those produced by LSD. Anxiety
and, sometimes, outright hostility may be present. Disrobing in public
is seen in a small percentage of patients. 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 hancuffs 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. There are many
reported assaults of friends and strangers, both with and without weapons. 
Many of these violent acts are committed by drug users who were
previously totally nonviolent individuals.

...
Note from Me: this is refering to moderate to high doses in the preceeding
paragraph
...

Patients with moderate or high dose intoxications are intially comatose. Those
with moderate-dose intoxications have a relatively short duration of coma
(several hours) compared with the prolonged coma associated with higher-dose
exposures (usually lasting 6 hours to several days but occasionally persisting
as long as 10 days).

... Much technical medical data deleted here ...

Mildly intoxicated patients are best treated with sensory isolation in a
nonthreatening environment on a cushioned surface in a darked, quiet room,
without neglecting the need for frequent monitoring of vital signs.
Instrumentation should be avoided.
...
The techniques of "talking down" as advocated for most hallucinogens are
ineffective for PCP and may instead further agitate patients.

.. Medical data about higher doses and effective means of sedation ...

-----
My notes follow

Woah! Sounds damn bad. Highly not recommended, be careful this stuff 
is rarely sold for what it is. It is making another round right now.
This is the kind of stuff that fuel prohibitionists, avoid it, tell
others and spread the word. Print this out and distribute it. It 
is not just propaganda, the source of this information is highly 
reliable. 

Read it and believe it.

Shawn 

..

=============================================================================

From: garbett@utkvx.utk.edu (Garbett, Shawn)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: PCP reading list
Date: 9 Jan 1995 19:48 EST
Message-ID: <9JAN199519484160@utkvx.utk.edu>

Well here's the reading list and references for that paper on PCP that
I posted excerts from by Toby L. Litovitz, M.D.

Burns RS, Lernet SE: Causes of phencyclidine-related deaths. Clin
Toxicol 12:463, 1978

Burns RS, Lerner SE: Perspectives: Acute phencyclidine intoxication.
Clin Toxicol 9:477, 1976

Cogen RC, Rigg G, Simmons JL, Domino EF: Phencyclidine-associated
acute rhabdomyolysis. Ann Intern Med 88:210, 1978.

Ogelsby EW, Faber SJ, Faber SJ: Angel dust: What everyone should know about
PCP. Lega-Books, Los Angeles, 1979.

Rumack B: Phencyclidine overdoes: An overview. Ann Emerg Med 9:595, 1980.

Welch MJ, Correa GA: PCP intoxication in young children and infants.
Clin Pediatr 19:510, 1980.

References:

Misra AL, Pontani RB, Bartolomea J: Persistence of phencyclidine (PCP)
and metabolites in brain and adipose tissue. Research Communications in
Chemical Pathology and Pharmacology 24:431, 1979

Aronow, R, Done AK: Phencyclidine overdose: An emerging concept of
management. J Am Coll Emerg Phys 7:56, 1978

Rappolt RT, Gay GR, Farris RD: Phencyclidine (PCP) intoxication:
Diagnosis in stages and algorithms of treatment. Clin Toxicol 16:509, 1980.

Sioris LJ, Krenzelok EP: Phencycliidine intoxication: A literature review.
Am J Hosp Pharm 35:1362, 1978.

McCarron MM, Schulze BW, Thompson GA, et al: Acute phencycline intoxication:
Incidence of clinical findings in 1000 cases. Ann Emerg Med 10:237, 1981.

Perterson RC, Stillman RC(eds): Phencyclidine (PCP) Abuse: An Appraisal.
NIDA Research Monograph 21. DHEW, Washington, DC, Aug 1978.

Goode DJ, Meltzer HY: The role os isometric muscle tension in the production
of muscle toxicity by phencyclidine and restraint stress. Psychopharmacologia
(Berl) 42:105, 1975.

The infomation in the report is dated, so if someone is really interested,
maybe they can do a current library search. It looks like Clin Toxicol
abstracts would be a good place to start. The paper with 1000 cases reviewed
also looks interesting to me, I'll try and get a copy.

Shawn 

=============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: bwhite@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (William E. White )
Subject: Re: PCP info sought possible FAQ beginnings
Message-ID: 
Date: Sun, 8 Jan 1995 22:46:54 GMT

In article <3el61f$ev2@explorer.clark.net>, Murple  wrote:

>What a crock of shit. Where did you get this "reliable" book, the PDFA?

While I don't believe that PCP (or any other drug for that matter, except
maybe alcohol (just kidding)) is an "evil" drug, I believe there is evidence
to show that a PCP trip in a naive user can be a very frightening thing.
Although the text in question may have shown the extreme to the absence
of the normal PCP "trip", I think this is only natural since the only 
"trips" which would have become relevant to law enforcement would be
precisely those which were extreme.  Sorta like the phenomenon that the
most nutty segments of a group (e.g., televangelists of Christians) tend
to be the most noticed.

Some things to consider:

-- PCP is not necessarily more likely to lead to criminal behaviour than
   other drugs, and in fact some studes (sorry I don't have references for
   this one, it's been awhile) show that PCP-intoxicated users are less
   likely to pose a threat to law enforcement than alcohol-intoxicated
   users.
-- PCP does, however, have a fairly high rate of inducing "bad trips" in
   users who are naive to its effects, and/or not expecting them.  I know
   several people who *have* obtained PCP laced MJ, occasionally without
   knowing it (this based on a friend who is experienced with PCP, and
   sampled the material in question).  Furthermore, in some areas PCP is
   not particularly expensive, and PCP-MJ combinations do tend to show
   up and be about the same cost as "kind" (e.g., $50 to $75 per quarter
   ounce).  This is regional; YMMV.  Yes, this is a shitty thing to do to
   someone, but sometimes it was unintentional (e.g., friend A "borrows"
   some of friend B's dope, and sells it to friends C, D, and E).  Which
   just goes to show, know your source.
-- In particular, most people who aren't expecting a dissociative
   anaesthetic can get *quite* disturbed by the experience.  Many people
   find it unpleasantly reminiscent of fever dreams.  That, coupled with
   the lack of feedback from sensory and muscle input, can be a dangerous
   combination simply because people can injure themselves and not know
   it.
-- PCP shares with alcohol certain effects on ion channels (in particular
   NMDA), and some of alcohol's "inhibition releasing" effects may be
   NMDA related as opposed to GABA related.  Any drug capable of reducing
   inhibitions can be undesirable in people not particularly comfortable
   with themselves.
-- PCP's pharmacology (as well as that of ketamine and dizocilpine, and
   to a lesser extent dextromethorphan and noscapine) is unique in that
   it affects a set of receptors whose role seems to be much more involved
   in "ordinary" neurotransmission (*), i.e. the NMDA receptor.  Contrast 
   with the indolealkylamines (e.g., LSD), phenylalkylamines, etc., which
   primarily affect "regulatory" neurotransmitter systems -- 5HT, dopamine,
   and noradrenaline.
-- People expecting to "wig out" on PCP are likely to do so, regardless of
   whether they would have absent from the expectations.

*  Actually the NMDA receptors are involved in long-term potention, but
   I think there's evidence that LTP is involved in more than just
   hippocampal short-term memory encoding.  If nothing else, people with
   no hippocampi don't show sensory blockade like NMDA antagonists
   produce.  In any case NMDA neurotransmission is widespread and
   ordinary.

In general, although I have not taken PCP myself, I tend to agree that it
is not something to be entered lightly.  *MANY PEOPLE REACT POORLY TO
DISSOCIATIVE ANAESTHETICS*  If you don't like the idea of being "out of 
touch" with your body, feeling cut off from reality like that, it's not
for you.

-- 
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