Thomas M. Brady, PhD and Erin L. Mallonee, MS. Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Suite 16-105, Rockville, MD 20857, (301) 443-9049, tbrady@samhsa.gov

PCP emerged as a street drug in the 1960s, and its use probably peaked in the late 1970s. Originally designed as an intravenous anesthetic, its medical use was discontinued because of adverse side effects such as post anesthetic delirium and psychotic behavior. This paper discusses the diverse clinical presentation of PCP use, highlights trend data from 1997 to 2001 and describes the epidemiology of PCP. Methods: Previously published data from SAMHSA’s Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) and Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) were reviewed for multi-year trends along with recent ethnographic findings from NIDA’s Community Epidemiologic Work Group (CEWG). TEDS 1999 and 2000 public use files were merged into a file of 3,187,213 records for analysis. Findings: Ethnographers report that PCP is often smoked: marijuana or tobacco cigarettes are dipped in a liquid form of the drug. Annual addiction treatment admissions for individuals whose primary substance was PCP increased almost 65 percent from 1997 to 2001. Annual emergency department visits for PCP increased 68 percent during this same period, with an additional 25 percent increase from 2001 to 2002. Males between ages 18 and 34 appear to have the highest rates of PCP use. Race appears to be associated with PCP use as well, as African American and Alaskan natives have the highest rates of treatment admission. Discussion: Recent surveillance of emergency room and substance abuse treatment data illustrate a sharp increase in PCP use in select urban areas.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify at least two symptoms describing the presentation of PCP patients, according to case reports from the addiction treatment literature;
• Recognize the most common route of administration (injecting, smoking, or intranasal) of PCP use;
• Describe trends in PCP use in terms of treatment admission and emergency department data.

Keywords: Substance Abuse Treatment, Emergency Department/Room

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.