Phencyclidine intoxication: insights into a growing problem of drug abuse

Phencyclidine (PCP) is a dissociative anesthetic whose abuse is a growing problem. Historically, its effects have been considered remarkably like those of the schizophrenic state, but in vitro and in vivo neuropharmacologic data are somewhat inconsistent with the dopaminergic hypothesis of schizophrenia. The physiologic and psychiatric manifestations of PCP intoxication are diverse and somewhat dose dependent. Urine acidification may hasten drug excretion.