Danger seen in new drug

Press, 9 June 1978, Page 2

Danger seen in new drug

A cheap and easily manufactured drug now in widespread use in the United States might be seen on the illegal drug market in New Zealand soon, according to Mr H. R. Unger the chief psychologist for the North Canterbury Hospital Board. Mr Unger is also national adviser on psychology to the Department of Health. He has just returned from study leave in the United States. The drug known as P.C.P. (phencyclidine, or sernyl) turned drug users “quietly insane” and even in low doses its effects were highly unpredictable, he said in Christchurch yesterday. The drug had caused increased violent behaviour among some groups in the United States, he said. P.C.P. which has a high incidence of unpleasant reactions and side effects, most often appeared for sale in schools, unemployment bureaux and anywhere where young people congregated. Mr Unger said one of the main dangers of the drug, as identified by United States mental health workers, was the fact it was often sold in combination with L.S.D. Common street drug market pseudonyms for P.C.P. included “Cannabinol” and “Angel Dust,” the latter

being sold as a smoking mixture. Because marijuana was smoked openly in some states, the incidence of P.C.P. being used with it was significant. Pamphlets have been circulated throughout the United States by agencies warning drug users about the dangers of the drug, par-' ticularly because it was just as likely to cause panic and extreme depression as it was to produce euphoria and excitement. The drug meant big business to the illegal drug traffickers, particularly when it was peddled to discontented minority groups looking for some escape from their miserable existence, Mr Unger said. The peddling of heroin seemed to be almost under control in much of the United States and L.S.D. used on its own was no longer a major problem. “This new drug, however, is something else because it is so cheap to manufacture and easy to conceal.” The drug cost only a few cents to produce compared with between $l5 and $2O per dose for other hallucinogenic drugs.