Phencyclidine-Related Deaths in Los Angeles County, 1976

Abstract

The current widespread use of the illicit drug phencyclidine (PCP), more commonly known as “angel dust” by the “street people,” elicits not only a health hazard but also criminality through violence and public disturbance. Files of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Crime Laboratory show that 25.3% of the 17 000 drug possession cases in 1976 involved PCP. Since the drug can be readily prepared clandestinely, it has been substituted for tetrahydrocannabinol and mescaline for illicit distribution. Jain et al [1] reported that in the analysis of urine specimens from probationers in Los Angeles County there was an increase in the PCP-positive samples from 36 to 145 for the months of January and February from 1975 to 1976. In 1977, there were 435 positives in these two months. The consequence of this street activity was that approximately 50 PCP cases per month were admitted on an emergency basis to the Los Angeles County General Hospital in 1976.

Phencyclidine: A 5-Year Retrospective Review from the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office

“…In our series, there were 80 violent deaths (58%) in which PCP was quantified in the blood but was unrelated to the cause of death. This is in keeping with other publications where most of the PCP positive fatalities were violent in nature (10,11,16,17). The highest PCP concentration in our cohort was 581.4 ng/mL (a 23‐year‐old man who drowned in a pond).…”

“…The highest PCP concentration in our cohort was 581.4 ng ⁄ mL (a 23-year-old man who drowned in a pond). In published studies, the concentrations of incidental blood PCP detection in nondrug-related (mostly violent) deaths ranged from <20 to 11,000 ng ⁄ mL (10,11,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). In a 1983 publication, Budd and Liu (19) found PCP in blood and other body fluids and tissues in 30 violent deaths and stated that ''in most of the cases PCP use led to bizarre and ⁄ or irrational behavior that resulted in death of the individual rather than PCP overdose proving directly fatal.''…”

“…Blood toxicology 3 h after admission showed PCP 7000 ng ⁄ mL and phenobarbital 0.21 mg ⁄ L (they do not say if the phenobarbital was given for the seizures). Subsequently, several authors have reported accidental (7,10,18,23) and suicidal (7,(16)(17)(18) PCP fatal intoxications in the absence of other substances. In the accidental cases, the blood PCP ranged from 300 to 4000 ng ⁄ mL.…”

Legal highs: staying on top of the flood of novel psychoactive substances

“…There are considerable risks associated with use, including pulmonary oedema, cerebrovascular accidents, and cardiac arrest. Presenting a relatively similar pattern to ketamine deaths, a (now considerably dated) work describing 19 PCP-related deaths [Noguchi and Nakamura, 1976], noted that only 3 were due to intoxication and 13 were due to acute behavioural effects and acts.…”

New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), Psychedelic Experiences and Dissociation: Clinical and Clinical Pharmacological Issues

“…PCP intake has been associated with cerebrovascular accidents and cardiac arrest [27]; catatonic states [92]; and delirium; the latter having led to the discontinuation of its research in the early 1960s [93][94]. Occasional deaths have been associated with the use of PCP [95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104]. Dextromethorphan Dextromethorphan (DXM) is a cough suppressant and opioid derivative, being the dextroisomer of the codeine analogue levorphanol.…”