A lethal drug is making a comeback on the US drug scene: angel dust, or PCP.
Since 2005 the rate of overdoses from PCP has skyrocketed. The rate recorded in the years 2005-2011 has risen by 400% since the lull that followed the harrowing heyday of the drug in the 1980s.
A highly hallucinogenic drug, PCP was the scourge of police departments in the US. People on PCP had a wide range of reactions, many that caused criminal activity. But when the police confronted the drug addict, they were met with a crazed person who was incredibly difficult to subdue. Even after hospitalization, many of the intoxicated subjects were difficult to sedate.
PCP is a drug that numbs the brain's ability to feel pain, emotion and memory, reducing its user to a veritable zombie. Some PCP users have been known to fling themselves to their deaths by jumping out of windows and bridges.
The interesting fact underlying the new usage trend is that the age group of the people using it is quite old in drug related terms: 24-35. This age group had an even higher increase in the drug use, 500% than the average of 400% observed generally in the time period studied.
The medical community is trying to elaborate a plan to bring awareness of the drug's incredibly dangerous and damaging effects, before it regains a foothold after years of decline. It is a serious public health threat that should not be allowed to resurface in the way it did when it first exploded on the drug scene.
The medical community is bracing for the possible effects of the drug's return on hospital and medical structures, and is circulating information necessary for medical providers on the management of the very difficult treatment of PCP users who end up in hospitals and other medical facilities.
Source : MNT / 11.18.13
No comments:
Post a Comment