Marijuana laced with PCP is making a dangerous comeback in the US and the psychosis it generates in users is causing an increase in admissions to emergency rooms and psychiatric facilities.
PCP (Phencyclidine) was developed in the 1950’s as a surgical anesthetic. Its official use in humans was discontinued in 1965 as patients frequently became agitated, delusional and irrational following its use as an anesthetic. Known as angel dust, KJ (Kristal Joint), illy, wet and many other slang drug terms, it became a recreational drug with a bad reputation.
Because regular unlaced marijuana has been actively cultivated over the years to contain more and more of its active ingredient, THC, today’s weed is much more potent than the varieties available in the 1960s.
The result is a sharp rise in the number of teenagers and preteens being treated at emergency rooms or entering drug treatment as a result of using a highly potent type of marijuana. In 2009 it was 376,467 emergency room visits due to marijuana and in 2011 it was 455,668.
“The stereotypes of marijuana smoking are way out of date,” said Michael Dennis, a research psychologist in Bloomington, Ill. “The kids we see are not only smoking stronger stuff at a younger age but their pattern of use might be three to six blunts — the equivalent of three or four joints each — just for themselves, in a day. That’s got nothing to do with what Mom or Dad did in high school. It might as well be a different drug.”
Add PCP to this stronger marijuana and it truly creates psychosis in smokers and they frequently end up in a psychiatric facility – especially in a state like Florida where the Baker Act demands that people who are mentally out of control be confined.
What are the effects of smoking “wet weed”?
PCP laced marijuana can create combinations of these destructive conditions:
- severe hallucinations
- impaired motor coordination
- extreme anxiety
- depression
- disorientation
- paranoia
- aggressive behavior and violence
- seizures
- memory loss
- respiratory arrest
- comas and/or death
Not exactly what the user was expecting from a “recreational drug.”
In 2003 the story of a young man was reported who committed murder after smoking wet marijuana and was unable to recall the events of that night. He experienced drug induced amnesia – one of the factors that caused medical use of PCP as an anesthetic to be banned.
He received 25 years in prison for something he could not recall doing. He didn’t know that the joint he was smoking was “wet” and capable of creating auditory hallucinations demanding that he do an act he would never consider when not influenced by the drug.
In another tale of smoking laced marijuana the result was a severe panic attack This person could not feel any part of his body, he had auditory and visual hallucinations, he felt he could not breathe and he had a powerful sense of overwhelming doom and death. He still had negative effects months after the incident.
What do psychiatric receiving units do with people who come in out of control on marijuana?
UF Health Shands Psychiatric Hospital (Formerly known as Shands Vista ) is a Baker Act receiving facility in Gainesville, FL. Their website states that side effects of regular, unlaced marijuana include panic, paranoia or acute psychosis. They go on to state that marijuana is often cut with hallucinogens and smoking this type can lead to extreme hyperactivity, physical violence, heart attack, seizures, stroke or cardiac arrest.
Their treatment includes giving the patient benzodiazepines, psychoactive drugs like Xanax, Valium, and Ativan, which themselves can cause brain damage.
Since no psychiatric drug as been shown to be effective with marijuana addiction or laced marijuana , doctors in psychiatric facilities more or less experiment with various sedatives, antidepressants and prescription drugs in trying to calm down a violent patient who is high on PCP.
Jeff Deeney, a social worker and freelance writer from Philadelphia, wrote about the rising use of PCP wet weed in his city in 2011.
He described dealers on the street calling out “wet, wet, wet” looking for customers who wanted a high that included hallucinations and who, not infrequently, got a psychotic episode as well.
Deeney wrote, “By morning light, some of them will be strapped to gurneys in inpatient psych units, wards of the city’s Crisis Response Centers—psychiatric emergency rooms acting as triage units for the homicidal and suicidal.”
Users are mostly in their teens and twenties. One named Nelly said “I got tired of weed and for a minute wet was cool, it was something new, it was a good way to escape.”
He wasn’t counting on the dissociative effects of wet weed which far exceeded those of high-grade designer marijuana. He’d have long conversations with inanimate objects that had come to life. Even when not high on the drug he’d have hallucinations with voices talking to him. “I heard voices, they would tell me to do things I didn’t want to do, commit crimes, hurt people, stuff like that.”
According to wet users an overdose makes body temperature go very high with a sensation of burning up. Many strip off clothing. The stories of naked PCP fueled users fighting off the police with the strength of 10 men are not overly exaggerated. A Philly policeman said “That stuff about Superman strength is for real, believe me,” he says. “I’ve seen people jump out of two story windows…people really do crazy stuff on PCP when we encounter them.”
Dr. John McCafferty was the Inpatient Director at Einstein Hospital’s psychiatric unit that serves the neighborhoods in Philadelphia where wet use is soaring. He got an involuntary commitment, at least once a week.
He said other types of addicts get stabilized quickly but wet users can be catatonic for days.
“PCP users can be so psychotic when they’re brought in that they can’t provide any history. . . Some PCP users are transferred to the psych unit from the trauma unit, where they had pins put in their legs because they jumped out a window. Some complain of chest pains days after arriving, and when we do an X-ray we find broken ribs. PCP is also an anesthetic, so other injuries often aren’t discovered until after it wears off.”
Nelly eventually stopped using wet weed. But then, instead of smoking marijuana with PCP, he took psychiatric medication “in order to stabilize his mood.” He may be quieter but he’s still taking dangerous drugs – probably for the rest of his life unless he encounters a real drug rehab program to help him quit his medications.
Having to choose between addiction to PCP marijuana or addiction to psychiatric drugs is a choice young people should not have to make.
Sources:
http://voices.yahoo.com/wet-weed-dangers-marijuana-laced-pcp-338844.html
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139184
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/drug-related-hospital-emergency-room-visits
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k13/DAWN127/sr127-DAWN-highlights.htm
http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/addiction/report-high-potency-marijuana
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21524266 2011
https://ufhealth.org/marijuana-intoxication
http://www.medicinenet.com/marijuana/page6.htm#what_are_the_treatments_for_marijuana_abuse_and_addiction
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/04/22/pcp-the-new-rise-of-a-drug-that-turns-teens-crazy.html
I know this stuffs been around for years, I read and hear the stories …
These personal experiences give me a sinking feeling. I hate that anyone has ever felt such a bad thing. Idk, Hard to explain. But what I’m wondering about now is are people doing this pcp,weed KNOWING* of what the effects might be? And if so, does it actually seem fun to some people? I’m not judging, trust me. There’s something about ‘losing it’ that doesn’t seem appealing to me. It is just me or do people generally find it cool to lose touch with reality? I thought the purpose of illicit substances was for some type of relief, something like that-
Weed is supposed to calm someone’s anxiousness. But if someone uses pcp weed next thing you know, they’re killing their ‘loved ones’
There’s real true cases of this too btw.
The “wet” or “dips” “fry” etc etc is being mentioned in some very recent cases in Oklahoma although it’s all over the country, not just in Oklahoma.
https://www.koco.com/article/he-was-screaming-mother-recounts-terrifying-moments-when-teen-slams-baby-to-ground/27925315
Another case I suspect the 2 teens were smoking laced pcp weed (or technically it’s dipped and then dried then sold but anyway) this 17 yo was smoking next thing he’s roughed up the gal he was with, took off running amok in a neighborhood, stripped down naked, jumping fences, tried to break in a home idk how many, the police tried to subdue him, nonreactive to the taser and was very combative, he ended up fatally shot. The Blm and the civil rights attorney have backed off this one for pretty obvious reasons, it’s terrible that someone lost their life but the bottom line is sometimes when you act crazy and attack people sometimes worse, then you might be treated like a criminal. I’m familiar a little with Edmond, and Oklahoma as well. Based on castle doctrine if it hadn’t been the police firing a gun, it would’ve been some home owner and they wouldn’t have gone to jail either. So I want to know how can a person tell the difference in a regular weed joint and one of the other problematic kind? Is there any smell, look or any signs that people can be aware of?thanks for your time.
my sister angie gave that to me but i was unknowingly taking it. i was smoking i thought marajuana. i was a kid that knew every answer in college but afterward i felt my brain totally dry up and i was not as smart anymore. all for a laugh. ha…….ha……ha…… and i wanted to be a doctor.
i was going to be a doctor before someone laced my marajuana during my college years. i felt my brain dry up. No more above average student who went to college prep.
Crooks can puff in the smoke of a laced joint without taking it into their lungs, and blow it out and make you think it is safe. Then you take it into your lungs and get brain damage. Even when you buy from a friend, you are trusting them with your life.
Even pure cannabis impairs short term memory during the intoxication. Not everyone gets euphoria from it. Even though the majority think it should be legal, that does not mean the majority will ever use it recreationally. For first time smokers, a few puffs of cannabis can be so powerfully mind altering that one would suspect it is laced. Then 4 hours later, you know it was not.
I started smoking Pot when I was about 14. Me and my friend were at another friends house when I was around 15-16 years old honestly can’t remember how old I was. Anyways we were all smoking and his friend comes and says “hey you guys want to smoke a laced blunt” I had no idea what it meant so I of course took hits after we were done smoking there were voices in my head telling me to jump off of the patio. We were on the 4th floor eventually I laid down and woke up still feeling weird. My friend guided me home and I went to sleep. After I woke up from sleeping for hours I’d say approximately 10 hours. I still heard voices in my head and I felt things strapping me down I got rushed into the hospital and they did a lot of tests on me and couldn’t find out what was wrong. Long story short is I’m 21 years old today and every time I’m around Pot Smoke I encounter all my symptoms I’ve had YEARS ago.
I smoked a lot of weed from 15 to 18. In the summer of my 18th year I smoked some weed at a concert offered by a stranger. It was so weird afterwards. Every step I took vibrated from each footfall, through my body and out through the top of my head. As we left the concert we had to cross a busy street. I literally thought I could stop traffic with my mind and walked out into the street, palms pointing out, willing the traffic to stop. I crossed safely but not because of any special powers. I crossed because the drivers were smart enough not to run over an out-of-his-mind kid who had just smoked a bunch of PCP. Another exposure later on sent me over the paranoid edge. And every attempt to smoke there after left me frightened to talk to people, paranoid at traffic lights (that people were looking at me), or afraid to leave a room for fear of what others might say in my absence. It was an ongoing, depressing, destructive nightmare. Only after I finally had what I know had to be a psychotic break — I saw “evil” everywhere I looked, even in license plates and billboards — did I decide no more weed. I was never diagnosed but I’ve learned to see what was happening since then. That was 40 years ago. I’ve tried smoking weed a handful since those days. Every time I’ve smoked weed in those years since, I get paranoid. Really paranoid. Curl up in a ball, don’t-look-at-me paranoid. My wife can smoke and just have fun with it but not me. I am fine if it ends up being legal but legality had better be accompanied with some serious mental healthcare vigilance. I pity anyone who has to endure the terror I did. Peace y’all!
In 2011, my 19 year old son was talked into smoking weed for the first time by someone he had grown up with, he had no idea it was laced with PCP. His life from that day on has forever been changed. My William had worked at our local hospital since he was 16 yrs old, had plans on going into the military, but now he is mentally challenged. I’m so afraid for him. How can I help him?
I have a important question now I don’t smoke like that but when I get really high so it was this time when I smoked I was doing the basic stuff I was doing laughing and playing around so then out of nowhere I felt like I was possessed, watching a tv with a big as bar code but with different colors telling my life and how everything was the same and that I said this one word that sounded like everything was the same the word was ycom then there was a saying going on in my head and it said why hush why fuss when you know you need to die but it was like in a rythym type shit
About 4 years ago I smoked weed laced with PCP. I had been smoking for about two years prior to the indecent. I was unaware that the pot was laced, and it sent me into a crazy episode. I was seizing, twitching, unable to control or move my body, hallucinations were all I could understand. Reality was completely gone, my heartbeat was so loud it felt like there was a tiny sub in my chest. I hallucinated crazy crazy stuff. I saw Satan, he was coming to get me. I thought I was dying. I was speaking in tongues and talking to the television, screaming for God to save me. When the paramedics came, I thought I was being kidnapped, and the IV they gave me was, to me, herion. They were abducting me and making me addicted is what I thought. I woke up like 8 hours later all distorted. I’ve always had anxiety and depression, but it totally amplified after that. I still, to this day can’t smoke marijuana because every time I do, the same effects come just as if I was smoking PCP, even when I know it’s not. Times distorted, I twitch, throw up, convulse, hallucinate, I’m completely scatterbrained and “possessed” and I feel like I’m stuck in it forever and the only way out is suicide. I’m a firm believer in marijuana, I just don’t know how to “rewire” my brain to not react that way anymore. Any info?
This sounds exactly like what happened to me 2 nights ago. How did you know it was laced, did the hospital tell you
I get like that every time I smoke week except for the sucide part, sends me into a spiritual realm. Not laced by the way. At first it was very intense and scary, but now it’s more about exploring the true meaning of life.
Take gensing for memory and blackseed oil pills omega 3 fish oil for depression. And Gingko biloboa. And Green tea.
I know from experience cannabis is not free of side effects and there don’t seem to be good studies into the harms of long term use. CBD alone does not work for Chronic Pain (Uni of Glasgow Med School Peer reviewed research 2017). The THC is what works for chronic pain. I have established all I am saying here for myself, via repeat experiences.
1. Cannabis has an horrendous WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME and
2, it makes my skin itch, especially after being in water, a shower, bath, swim etc.
Something g pretty complex we don’t yet understand is going on when CBD and THC is in our bodies. Natural does not mean side effect or harm free and never has. What about digitalis (Foxglove)? It will stop your heart if consumed.
Negative Effects Of Marijuana
My brother smoked a pcp laced joint 30 years ago. He was 21. It triggered a genetic expression of mental illness that had been latent in his dna up until that time and he has suffered and struggled ever since. The stress of an experience of pcp, or any strong drug, or any incredibly stressful event probably would’ve done it – that’s what the medical professionals say – that schizophrenia is usually brought on, if it’s in the genes, by an event of high stress. When the brain gets confused and can’t balance it’s own chemistry and become coherent while the stress hormones and fight or flight part of the nervous system is activated, it’s a perfect storm for this gene to wake up and run the show for the rest of your life. The ability of the brain to function normally is wrecked. He became schizophrenic and psychotic – hearing voices, having delusions and hallucinations, being very violent towards himself. I lost the brother I had known. He was subjected to many years of institutionalization, electro-shock therapy and years and years of addiction therapy and 12 step program help. He still struggles, although he has managed to find a job, get married etc. His life is far from easy. This summer, he had another breakdown and has been in the psych ward for months. That’s the only place that can handle what he’s up against – even though he hates it so much, he wants to get better.
Know your drugs. where they come from. Homegrown is the safest. Stand up to the pressure to conform and just do what everybody else is doing. Walk away. Learn to calm down and own your reality. There are dangerous sociopaths out there masquerading as friendly fellow party-goers who think this kind of thing is funny, like a joke. The sad truth is, their actions are causing harm on many levels for many years and generations to come.
I have a best friend going through this right now we thought it was Meth but the more I read it just might be marijuana that was laced , he doesn’t speak to the ones that love him the most like his sister his godmother his mom and closest friends he thinks they are out to get him he chooses to be homeless when he has relatives offering him a place to stay he catches a greyhound bus out of state and comes right back and bounces between his friends house we are not positive that it is some mental illness or is he still using , He’s getting arrested now and he is really a good kid he’s not the same person and we don’t know what to do we try to convince him to get help but he shut everyone out we just don’t know what to do anymore , we tried it OPC that did not work now we are thinking about interdiction
He is just not the same person he Wass seems like he gets possessed he is very well loved and missed by his family and closest friends
We don’t know what to do
i’m going through the same thing i smoked with a girl april 21 had a panic attack in the car and thought i was going to die it felt like time was slowing down my heart was racing and this went on for about eight hours during this time it felt like my brain was being massaged but like a unwanted massage it just kept going on and on it was really bother some it felt like my brain was being squeezed not hard but like it was breaking down ever since i have derealization still and it’s august now i’m hoping i come out of this i believe in the Most High i regret smoking the weed i’m not sure if it was laced feel free to respond i have tons of friends who have been trough this we talk everyday talking helps more than psychiatric meds
I was at a party one night at a friends house. I saw these pple in the corner smoking pot, they looked off. However, this was after my brother past away so I didn’t care of life and I was doing what ever I wanted. They asked if I wanted to smoke. I said sure. Well, they packed it and I was going hard hit after hit, put it this way in a matter of a half hour things started becoming off. I couldn’t control some of my actions, I started laughing uncontrollably looking at my hand. But I would come out of it. My two Gfs were smoking to but stopped after a little bit because their hearts were pounding. So, as time goes by things start to get worse. At one point, these pple that gave me the weed I saw demons in each of them and heard some of the worst things I ever heard. I started praying over and over. Demons were laughing at me and saying this guys so fucked up just laughing at me over and over like they didn’t care at all about me. So, the demons in these pple were telling them things, I hear their thoughts and they were horrible like they wanted to rape my two gfs. Who were friends of mine. I was sitting down at the time and no one was at their house expect me my two Gfs who lived their and these guys and they brought a girl with them. So, after me laughing uncontrollably at my hand. I would shake my head and it seemed like every movement was super slow motion, even making any more like getting up seemed like a half hour. At one one point my friends brother came home. A voice inside me said to tell him whats going on. Let me first say that this seemed like an angel inside me telling me to do something. I knew I had. The other voices of the demons were so terrifying it comatose me. But I prayed over and over for Jesus to help me. So, he gave the strength to get up which seemed like an hour then I found my way over to him. Every word seemed like 5 minutes to come out of my mouth. Idk what I said, but I remember saying something to the extent that I am hearing some evil things. Please just stay with your sister and Katie. They did, they told me to go lay down, they had to walk me their and to the bathroom. I was so out of it. Paranoid the whole night hearing things. I never stopped praying the whole night. Finally, these pple whom ever they were knew they knew that their plan was not going to happen of whatever they were going to do with my friends. As got up and left I was laying down, they said good bye. But I heard their thoughts demons. Said fuck I told you we should have capped this mother fucker. I was so terrified but they left. I knew at that particular moment things were okay, but I was under a blanket in and out paranoid. I finally fell asleep. Woke up in the morning remembering everything. Like it wasn’t a dream. I felt extremely tired all day and I could not believe what happened. When I got home, I did some research and I felt like I got p dawged. they laced it on me. i never got to pack it and they kept giving it to me. Plus the girl in the group, was in on all of it. Just insane how this went down. I don’t know if this was all real. But I can tell you this it was real to me. Their are demons and angels Jesus and the devil. I don’t doubt ever. Pple can say I am crazy and that is fine. But I been clean for over ten years and I was never a smoker and after that I had weed a few times, never had that affect on me like that night. I told pple this story and they mentioned to me that it was Pcp and weed. So, Idk but I know what happened to me. Their are demons they are the most malevolent things ever. They hate humans, but what I learned was the good in me which I felt angels were around me would not let me let anything happen to my friends. So, Idk if I am crazy or what but I thought I would share what happened with this night. It was 12 years ago and I it never left. I hope to hear from pple and see what you think. Thank you for reading this and stay clean!
Where it talks about the guy who got 25 years for committing murder while he used the drug, was he able to get an appeal or was the dealer ever charged?? I’m just trying to see what I can possible do to help out a friend, they recently went out of state and bought some weed from someone out there and they ended up getting really aggressive and ended up in jail. I’ve known my friend since we were babies and not once have they ever shown any behavior like this before. I know for a fact it was because of that weed. I just want to know if there’s some place I could read on reports or what legal advise maybe some one could point me in the right direction. Thanks. (PS it was in California where this happened)
Thank y’all so much this helped a lot I only hit the blunt once & was gone I should have known better but I did it anyways & my mood swings be crazy since anxiety and depression is no joke but i Get by everyday hoping it would change back like u said time heals I won’t smoke any weed or drink it’s been about 6months now I’m done for good now I have to stay focus for my sons it’s hard but don’t give up I have no friends and nobody to feel the way I feel or anyone to talk to about it I have memory lost moments people just think I’m slow now cause I barely talk or they look at me funny when I do like I said something different anyways thank y’all a lot
I got the same exact problem to a tee. Happened about 1 month ago and still persists. I have gotten much better but it takes time. Drink a reasonable but not too much amount of water and clear liquids everyday. Do not smoke anymore! (I messed that up. Retriggers again). Eat 1-2 bananas for a nice source of potassium, you only have to eat them one time. This will help balance your blood levels. You are extremely dehyrated and dont know, kidney disease is common for people with our symptoms. So rest well, follow my guide (came from a heart doctor buddy of mine), drink some electrplytes and give it much time. Take a one hour or less walk everyday to clear your mind and get blood flowing. My buddy saved my life with this advice, i hope it saves urs. Remember no thoughts of anger and stay safe bro.
Can you please send me more details about the advice from the heart doctor.
About 6 months ago I smoked weed but I think it was laced with pcp. I spaced out for a long time then like came back to reality and my vision was focusing in and out and I couldn’t function. After I slept for a while I was fine then a few moths later I got anxiety and depression. I’m getting over both those now but it’s hard and I get weird thoughts in my mind. If anybody can relate and tell me what else will happen that would be nice.
I have a similar experience. When I got high for the first time, my friend continuously told me that the weed he got wasn’t laced. It clearly was. I get high very easily, and after two hits from a gb, I was lying on the ground. My legs were twitching uncontrollably, time zoomed down and my vision was coming in waves. Over and over, I saw him lean forward a tiny bit while he pronounced the first letter of my name. After 10 seconds of this loop, he would speak out the rest of my name normally. My mind was totally fucked up. It was like part of me was falling asleep and malfunctioning while the rest of me was processing my surroundins
I already had bipolar, but ever since that night I’ve been having depressive thoughts. It’s tiring.
2 years ago I went to party and smoked weed it was PCP and to this day I have problems such depression and anxiety attack and had much more.
I need to talk to someone ASAP about my son please I need to ask questions
Thank you for contacting CCHR. If someone has not yet contacted you, please call our office.
Hey
Hi
This isn’t a reply it’s a cry for help. My son is experiencing a lot of these side effects. Will he ever be normal or is this IT for him
If he was smoking PCP then it may take awhile till the effects and especially his brains chemistry get back to normal. But if he has these symptoms without the use of drugs he’s probably either schizophrenic, or bi-polar. If you know for sure it was caused by PCP then time will heal his wounds. He may have serious symptoms of wanting to get high again, but take it one day at a time.
This just happened to my son 4 months ago he smoked laced weed with pcp he didn’t no it only took 3 puffs he only 20 years old his mind just won’t come back does the brain ever get back to normal I can relate to so many on here woodnt wish this on nobody watching my son suffer daily is a nightmare I can’t wake up from any info will help
Hi, I recently just found out that my conditions of anxiety and depression definitely came from an incident where my weed was laced 12 years ago. Im wondering if theres any information out there that could help me in dealing with my symptoms and to see what kind of actions i can take part in. Thanks for your time
Fear, worsens any psychotic episodes. What happened to you 12 years ago is gone, because time heals all wounds. We humans want always to reason any thing happen to us, we like facts not theories, and if you have anxiety and depression, find what you love and do it, ignore the pain and it will go, pretend it until it becomes reality. The beauty of the human mind is its ability to adjust to any reality you want it to be in. Although, many factors may contribute to mental illness such as vitamin deficiency, trauma or drug abuse, this illness is just your body defending itself, so don’t worry about it, and let go for the past. Time health all wounds.
A recent horrid experience has brought me to this site…
I am grateful I came across this website while researching and I am even more joyful that this organization is a non-profit…and has many more great components. To give an specific example of what I feel makes this site sincere and authentic, is the personal stories and real life events, even though I just briefly scanned the information I needed. I will surely look into this site more in the future.
I am not condoning marijuana use in anyway with my words however, I feel the unfair assessment of marijuana is due to the rise and use of street drugs that are laced with very toxic and harmful chemicals. There are certain individuals who need medical marijuana for health reasons and this natural plant from the earth can treat and help reduce effects for certain individuals with serious conditions and illnesses.
Take what the earth has offered us and just live with the natural euphoric feeling it already produces. I believe humans will never be able to match or create what the natural earth has already given to us, that goes for all areas of science and medicine.
Im an old timer and previous stoner. I take an occasional tote now and then and I highly suspect that much of todays marajuana is chemically laced.
I used to smoke everything from commercial mexican pot to Thia sticks and hash oil and nothing I smoked touches the stuff on the street today.
One good toke of todays stuff will put you in orbit and three good tokes on top of a couple of beers will produce a black out.