The Harrowing Results of PCP Abuse

The last moments of Shenia Walker’s life were spent terrified on a frantic phone call with her grandmother, telling her that the father of two of her children, Mario Rivera, was in her apartment high on drugs.

When police arrived on the scene they discovered Walker dead and Rivera lying next to her. After searching Walker’s apartment, police discovered her four uninjured boys, who had witnessed Rivera on top of their mother, plunging a 12-inch butcher knife into her chest.

As he was led away in handcuffs, Rivera was heard making several comments about killing Walker and admitted he was under the influence of PCP, also known as angel dust.

Effects of PCP Abuse

PCP, short for phencyclidine, is a drug classified as a dissociative anesthetic. Developed in the 1950’s, it was originally produced as a surgical anesthetic. However, patients given PCP often experienced dangerous and unpredictable side effects such as delusions, hallucinations, and agitation, halting PCP anesthetic testing in 1965.

Since PCP has the ability to cause a sense of detachment from the environment when used, those who abuse PCP typically feel as if they are in a “trance-like state” with highs that can last up to 24 hours and need a 3 to 18 hour recovery period.

Some of the short-term effects of PCP abuse include:

• Distorted sense of reality
• Hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia
• Violent or suicidal behavior
• Distorted body image
• Agitation
• Confusion
• Shallow breathing
• Heavy sweating
• Numbness
• Coordination problems
• Flushing
• Sedation

Shenia Walker’s harrowing story is just one of the tragic examples of the dangerous consequences involved with PCP abuse.

In fact, in a study published in July 2013 in the Journal of Addictive Diseases, researchers discovered that PCP users commit violent acts more often than either marijuana users or combined marijuana/alcohol users. Additionally, it was discovered that examples of these indications include higher rates of involvement in domestic violence in the year prior to the study.

While the effects of PCP can vary from each individual to the next, when abused by adolescents, PCP has the ability to impair normal growth and learning abilities, as the drug affects the individual’s hormones.

PCP also causes many of its users to become erratic and violent, which can lead to domestic violence, dangerous interactions with others, and ultimately, criminal charges and prison time.
In addition to its short and long-term physical and mental effects, PCP abuse can also lead to financial problems, loss of employment, and relationship and social problems.

It is important to understand all the ramifications involved with drug abuse. For more information on PCP abuse or to get help for you or a loved one’s drug addiction, please don’t hesitate to call our trained addiction specialists today.