PCP and Violence

excerpted from : Drug Abuse and Drug Abuse Research, an annual report to congress by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, pg. 153. (1991)

"There are two aspects to phencyclidine (PCP) intoxication that have warranted particular attention by the general public, as well as by law-enforcement and clinical personnel. Both aspects concern the relationship between phencyclidine abuse and aggressive behavior. There are reports of increased aggressiveness and 'super-human' strength that develop in some people who take phencyclidine.

Recent studies, including those of men arrested for criminal activity in Washington D.C. and New York City (Wish 1986) and evaluations of published clinical reports of phencyclidine intoxication (Brecher et al. 1988), indicate that if phencyclidine induces violent, criminal behavior, it does so only extremely infrequently.

Although Wish (1986) noted that most men who had urines positive for phencyclidine were younger than those who had taken no drugs or other drugs, their crimes were likely to be less aggressive than the crimes of those who had not taken phencyclidine.

Khajawall et al. (1982) found no difference in the behavior of clients admitted for phencyclidine detoxification and those admitted for opioid detoxification. Thus, phencylidine-induced aggression appears to be a rare phenomenon, if it occurs at all."

cited references:

Wish, E.D. PCP and crime: just another illicit drug? _Natl Inst Drug Abuse Res Monogr Ser_ 64:174-189, 1986.

Brecher, M.; Wang, B.W.; Wong, H.; and Morgan, J.P. Phencyclidine and violence: clinical and legal issues. _J Clinical Psychopharmacology_ 8:397-401, 1988.

Khajawall, A.M.; Erickson, T.B.; and Simpson, G.M. Chronic phencyclidine abuse and physical assault. _Am J Psychiat_ 139:1604-1606, 1982.