The Truth About PCP

By Christine Poolos

PCP is an illegal hallucinogen that can cause psychotic episodes. It is manufactured by street gangs and distributed around the country. Users can never be sure what they're getting when they buy it. Now sold in many forms, including a convenient and cheap cigarette, PCP is a drug whose use is on the increase. It is easy to find in cities, and it is spreading to suburbs and smaller communities. Use of the drug can result in extreme violence, danger, and severe mental problems. PCP has been linked to some horrifying acts of violence, including murder and cannibalism. Once thought to be a drug of the past, PCP is back and luring a new generation of teens toward destruction. This book exposes the unfathomable lows that a PCP high actually offers--seizures, organ failure, coma, paranoia, mood swings, psychotic breaks, extreme violence, and death. Readers will come away with the certain knowledge that PCP offers anything but a high time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosen Publishing
• Release date: Dec 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781477719084

Book preview

Published in 2014 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright © 2014 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Poolos, Christine.

The truth about PCP/Christine Poolos.—First edition.

pages cm.—(Drugs & consequences)

Audience: Grades 7-12.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4777-1899-5 (library binding)

1. Phencyclidine—Juvenile literature. 2. Phencyclidine—United States— Juvenile literature. 3. Phencyclidine abuse—United States—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

HV5822.P45P66 2014 362.29'4—dc23

2013019268

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #WI4YA: For further information, contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York, at 1-800-237-9932.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 - WHAT IS PCP?

CHAPTER 2 - PCP’S STRANGE HISTORY

CHAPTER 3 - THE SOCIAL DANGERS

CHAPTER 4 - PCP’S EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN AND BODY

CHAPTER 5 - ABUSE AND RECOVERY

GLOSSARY

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FOR FURTHER READING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

There is a new drug, or rather a new old drug, that has been making the rounds in a big city near you. Phencyclidine, better known as PCP has come back more than a decade after it went away. Statistically, PCP doesn't seem to be much of an issue. The number of Americans using the drug isn't even close to the number of users of almost any other illegal drug. In fact, many people—especially those who remember the drug as angel dust from the 1960s and 1970s—don't even know that PCP still exists. Why should we worry about a substance that, statistically speaking, doesn't seem to be a scourge on society? What is PCP and what is the harm in it?

PCP is an illegal hallucinogen that can cause psychotic episodes. It is manufactured by street gangs and distributed around the country. It is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and users can't be sure of exactly what they're getting when they buy it. Use of the drug can be fairly harmless, but it can also result in extreme violence, danger, and severe mental problems.

Now sold in many forms, including a convenient and cheap cigarette, PCP is a drug whose use is on the increase. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that about six million U.S. residents aged twelve and older have used PCP at least once. And many of its users are teens. A survey of high school seniors found that more than 3 percent had used PCP at least once, while more than 1 percent had used it in the past year. Those numbers may not seem significant, but they reflect the frequent use of a drug that many had written off as a thing of the past. That alone concerns authorities.

PCP’s low price makes it a diabolically tempting drug for teens looking for a quick and cheap high. Far from delivering a high, however, PCP