Author: John Carter

PCP Angel Dust: Effects, Hazards, Myths, and How to Get Help

The drug can quickly get under an individual’s skin, especially if they are having a bad experience, making them prone to violence in the most irrational way. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. Adrienne Santos-Longhurst is a freelance writer and author who has written extensively on all things health and lifestyle for more than a decade. PCP is a synthetic drug made from a combination of chemicals, including potassium cyanide, bromobenzene, ether, and hydrochloric acid.

1. For example, many people believe PCP gives you godlike strength, although it is only due to the drug’s bizarre and violent effects.
2. People may experience a marked increase in impulsivity and aggression, leading to risky decisions and potential harm to themselves or others.
3. Another long-term effect of LSD use is a condition called hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder.
4. Depending on the substance used to cut the PCP, it can vary from pale white to dark brown in color.

Its intoxication is described as dissociative anesthesia, feeling like you are on a form of anesthesia, but you are not entirely unconscious. Factors like how much you use and whether you’re using other substances also affect how long you feel angel dust. PCP’s effects generally last from 6 to 24 hours but linger up to around 48 hours in some people. In people with more body fat, effects can come and go or fluctuate over a few days to months. Over time, the more you use the drug, the more tolerance you’ll build. This means you’ll need to use higher doses to get the same level of high.

Mental Health Problems

A moderate amount of PCP often causes users to feel detached, distant, and estranged from their surroundings. Long-term treatment may involve inpatient therapy at a rehabilitation facility, which provides round-the-clock care from a team of mental health care professionals in a supportive environment. Chronic PCP use can cause toxic psychosis, especially if you have a history of mental health issues. You might lose the sense of control around the substance and instead develop the need to use it more often to get through your day-to-day routine.

Phencyclidine (PCP), commonly referred to as angel dust, is a dissociative drug that causes a feeling of detachment from reality. It is a mind-altering drug, classified as a hallucinogenic, like LSD, because it makes you see, hear, or feel things that appear real but are created by the mind. Fatal overdoses are possible when you take a large amount of PCP. But most PCP-related deaths result from dangerous behavior caused by delusions and other psychological effects. This category includes narcotics that have a high potential for abuse or physical or psychological dependence.

Difficulty breathing and respiratory arrest can occur, particularly with high doses or when mixed with other depressants. PCP may also cause potentially life-threatening seizures and coma. If you or someone around you is exhibiting signs of angel dust overdose, seek urgent medical help immediately. Hallucinogens, such as PCP, can commonly trigger anxious feelings and paranoia in users.

Addiction to Angel Dust

The easiest way to lookup drug information, identify pills, check interactions and set up your own personal medication records. As with any recreational drug that may be injected, the risk for HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases from shared needles is a possibility. PCP is available in a variety of tablets, capsules, and colored powders, which are either smoked, taken orally or by the intranasal route (“snorted”). Doses greater than 10 mg usually result in shock and coma, displayed as an unresponsive individual whose eyes remain open.

For smoking, PCP is typically sprayed onto leafy material such as mint, parsley, oregano, or marijuana. In its purest form, PCP is a white crystalline powder that readily dissolves in water or alcohol and has a distinctive bitter chemical taste. On the illicit drug market, PCP contains a number of contaminants causing the color to range from a light to darker brown with a powdery to a gummy mass consistency. If you or someone you know or love struggles with PCP addiction, contact Northridge Addiction Treatment Center. Your health and safety are our top priority in our medically supervised detox program and our scientifically backed residential treatment program. Call now to start your own unique journey to healing with NATC.

When a person is on PCP, the drug can also block memories, emotions and pain. This euphoric effect can make it powerfully attractive for those with significant trauma in their past. Lauren Smith has worked as a journalist and copywriter for the last decade, covering a range of topics including health, energy, and technology in the US and UK. Treatment for PCP addiction is best undertaken at a residential rehab facility or outpatient treatment center.

What class of drugs is PCP?

How long it stays in your system depends on factors such as age, body mass, metabolism, dosage, usage frequency, hydration, and the type of drug test used in the analysis. The feelings of invulnerability, hallucinations or delusions a PCP user experiences can lead to fatal errors in judgement. Someone high on PCP may not realize they’re walking off a cliff and can’t fly. Long-term use can affect a person’s respiration rate, blood pressure and many other biological processes. And a PCP overdose can also lead to a coma or result in immediate death.

Outpatient Treatment

So, how can someone recognize angel dust when looking at various pills, powders and other unidentified substances? On the street, it’s often cut with other substances to increase profits. Angel dust is a street name for PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic drug that can profoundly impact body and mind. Originally developed in the 1950s as a general anesthetic, PCP was later discontinued for medical use due to severe side effects.

Angel dust is often compared to hallucinogens such as acid (LSD) and ecstasy (MDMA). However, it also has a dissociative effect, making users feel incredibly disconnected from the people and things around them. There’s no proven impact on strength enhancement related to PCP use.

PCP puts you in a trance-like state with profound feelings of euphoria and joy. You have a sense of unlimited strength and power coupled with not being afraid of anything and the inability to feel pain. Additionally, it is connected with memory loss, involuntary movements, and partial contractions of body muscles. 70% of PCP users smoke it because the effects are felt within 2-5 minutes, without the risk of using a needle.

The most disturbing outcome of its violent and brutal behaviors is the user’s tendencies to self-mutilate. Moderate to high doses of PCP can cause symptoms of psychosis that mimic schizophrenia, even in people without a history of mental illness. This may include hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. In some cases, it’s possible for PCP to cause over-the-top psychological effects that make you feel stronger than you are and engage in violent behavior. Mixing phencyclidine with central nervous system depressants (alcohol, opioids, or benzodiazepines), increases the risk of overdose.

Many PCP users are brought to emergency rooms because of PCP’s unpleasant psychological effects or because of overdoses. In a hospital or detention setting, they often become violent or suicidal, and are very dangerous to themselves and to others. They should be kept in a calm setting and should not be left alone. High doses of PCP can also cause seizures, coma, and death (often due to accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication). Psychological effects at high doses include delusions and hallucinations. Users often refer to the experiences from hallucinogens as a “trip”, or calling an unpleasant experience a “bad trip.”

Moreover, LSD use can induce or trigger a schizophrenic or psychotic state in some at-risk individuals. Yet one of the most frightening aspects of LSD use is that the user may experience terrifying flashbacks years after using a single dose of the powerful drug. Some common street names for PCP include angel dust, rocket fuel and hog. Marijuana and PCP are often packaged together and sold as whack, kools or supergrass. These names refer to weed that’s been sprayed or coated in PCP. The drug can induce irregular heart rhythms and potentially lead to a heart attack, especially when taken in high doses.