Phencyclidine

Phencyclidine (a complex clip of the chemical name 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine), commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust or wet, is a recreational dissociative drug. Formerly used as an anesthetic agent, PCP exhibits both hallucinogenic and neurotoxic effects.

First synthesized in 1926, it was eventually patented in 1952 by the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company and marketed under the brand name Sernyl. In chemical structure, PCP is an arylcyclohexylamine derivative, and, in pharmacology, it is a member of the family of dissociative anesthetics. PCP works primarily as an NMDA receptor antagonist, which blocks the activity of the NMDA receptor and, like most antiglutamatergic hallucinogens, is significantly more dangerous than other categories of hallucinogens. Other NMDA receptor antagonists include ketamine, tiletamine, dextromethorphan and nitrous oxide. Although the primary psychoactive effects of PCP last for a few hours, its total elimination rate from the body typically extends eight days or longer.

As a recreational drug, PCP may be ingested, smoked, or inhaled.