Commonly Abused Drugs
Review this page which describes the acute effects and the health risks of both legal and illegal drugs.
Commonly Abused Drugs
PCP
A dissociative drug developed as an intravenous anesthetic that has been discontinued due to serious adverse effects. Dissociative drugs are hallucinogens that cause the user to feel detached from reality. PCP is an abbreviation of the scientific name, phencyclidine.
| Street Names | Commercial Names | Common Forms | Common Ways Taken | DEA Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angel Dust, Boat, Hog, Love Boat, Peace Pill | No commercial uses | White or colored powder, tablet, or capsule; clear liquid | Injected, snorted, swallowed, smoked (powder added to mint, parsley, oregano, or marijuana) | I, II |
| Possible Health Effects | |
|---|---|
| Short-term |
Delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, problems thinking, a sense of distance from one's environment, anxiety. Low doses: slight increase in breathing rate; increased blood pressure and heart rate; shallow breathing; face redness and sweating; numbness of the hands or feet; problems with movement. High doses: lowered blood pressure, pulse rate, breathing rate; nausea; vomiting, blurred vision; flicking up and down of the eyes; drooling; loss of balance; dizziness; violence; suicidal thoughts; seizures, coma, and death. |
| Long-term | Memory loss, problems with speech and thinking, depression, weight loss, anxiety. |
| Other Health-related Issues |
PCP has been linked to self-injury. Risk of HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases from shared needles. |
| In Combination with Alcohol | Increased risk of coma. |
| Withdrawal Symptoms | Headaches, sweating. |
| Treatment options | |
| Medications | There are no FDA-approved medications to treat addiction to PCP or other dissociative drugs. |
| Behavioral Therapies | More research is needed to find out if behavioral therapies can be used to treat addiction to dissociative drugs. |