What Kind of Drug Is It?

Phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP, can be classified both as an hallucinogen and as an anesthetic. For legal purposes, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) considers PCP an hallucinogen, meaning it can make people see, hear, feel, and otherwise sense things that are not real. Scientists classify it as a DISSOCIATIVE ANESTHETIC. Dissociative refers to a feeling of being disconnected from one's body. An anesthetic is a substance that causes a loss of sensation in the body.

Depending on the dosage, PCP also acts as a depressant or as a stimulant, slowing down or speeding up normal body functions. PCP can do all of these things, and in addition, it can have many other weird, unpredictable, and dangerous side effects.

PCP is a synthetic substance, meaning that it is made in a laboratory. The ingredients used in its manufacture...