Angel Dust, An Ethnographic Study of PCP Users PDF
Preview Angel Dust, An Ethnographic Study of PCP Users
HARVEY W. FELDM MICHAEL H. AG HARVEY W FELDMAN MICHAEL H. AGAR GEORGE M. BESCHNER Phencyclidine, a synthetic hallucinogen developed in the late 1950s, is now firmly entrenched in the repertoires of polydrug users under such names as PCP, angel dust, tic, hog, and horse tranquilizer. Typically, the PCP user is a white adolescent from a low to middle income family, who smokes, shoots, swallows, or snorts the drug at social gatherings. Easily obtained, angel dust provides a quick, potent, and inexpensive high and offers adolescents an escape from boredom or tension. The unpredictability of angel dust’s side effects and its bad street reputation confer status on those group members who test themselves against it. Essentially a phase drug, PCP loses its appeal as adolescents shed their dependence on group support and perceive PCP use as detrimental to developing social/sexual relationships. The first application of ethnographic methodology to a study of phencyclidine use, ANGEL DUST traces the street history of phencyclidine—its appearance in the 1960s, its peak popularity in the mid-1970s, and its current status in Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, and Seattle-Tacoma. Four ethnographers observed and interviewed more than 300 PCP users to assess the patterns of use, the social dynamics of PCP-using groups, and the psychological, physical, and social effects of extended use. Their findings specifically contradict the results of prior studies and highlight insufficiencies in current drug-abuse reporting programs. ANGEL DUST is an exhaustive, cross-national study of phencyclidine use and an important model for future research. Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute Library 1107 NE 45th Street, Suite 120 Univ. of Washington, Box 354805 Seattle, WA 98105-4631 (206) 543-0937 ,hol & Drug Abuse Institute Library r NE 45th Street, Suite 120 v of Washington, Box 354805 ttle, WA 98105-4631 i) 543-0937 Angel Dust Angel Dust An Ethnographic Study of PCP Users ALCOHOLISM & DRUG ABUSE INSTITUTE. UNIVERSITY Of WASHINGTON / 3937.15th AVENUE N.E., NL-15 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 38105 Edited by Harvey W. Feldman Birch & Davis Associates, Inc. Michael H. Agar University of Houston George M. Beschner National Institute on Drug Abuse LexingtonBooks D.C. Heath and Company Lexington, Massachusetts Toronto pqs fVS3 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Angel dust, an ethnographic study of phencyclidine users. 1. Phencyclidine abuse—United States—Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Feldman, Harvey W. II. Agar, Michael. III. Beschner, George M. HV5822.P45A53 362.2’93 79-8319 - 5'^ ISBN 0-669-03379-0 Copyright © 1979 by D.C. Heath and Company All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmit¬ ted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada. Printed in the United States of America. International Standard Book Number: 0-669-03379-0 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 79-8319 Contents Foreword Edward Preble vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1 Introduction George M. Beschner and Harvey W. Feldman 1 Chapter 2 The Study Method Michael H. Agar 19 Chapter 3 PCP Use in Four Cities: An Overview Harvey W. Feldman 29 Chapter 4 A Quantitative Analysis of 100 PCP Users Dan Waldorf 53 Chapter 5 “Buzzin”’: PCP Use in Philadelphia James M. Walters 73 Chapter 6 Sea-Tac and PCP Jennifer James and Elena Andresen 109 Chapter 7 Burning out on the Northwest Side: PCP Use in Chicago W. Wayne Wiebel 159 Chapter 8 Freaks and Cognoscenti: PCP Use in Miami Patricia J. Cleckner 183 Chapter 9 The PCP Study in Context: Some Comments on Policy and Method Michael H. Agar 211 Index 219 About the Contributors 225 About the Editors 227 v
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