PCP° ABBREVIATION (DRUGS)

In the slang of drug users, the drug phencyclidine hydrochloride, taken illegally for its hallucinogenic effects. Etymology: The initials are said to come from PeaCe Pill, an early street name for the drug, although they could as easily come from PhenCyclidine Pill. History and Usage: The drug was introduced as an anaesthetic in the late fifties, but was soon limited therapeutically to veterinary use. It began to be taken illicitly as a hallucinogen in the psychedelic sixties; in the eighties it enjoyed a revival with the new psychedelia of acid house. PCP has had over 150 street names, some of which are listed in the entry for angel dust (the most enduring of all of them). In parallel with the rise in gang warfare has been the increasing availability of PCP...on the street drug-market. Listener 7 June 1984, p. 7 We talked to kids who got stoned on PCP at eight in the morning, just to start the day. Girl About Town 30 Jan. 1989, p. 11