How PCP Works

# Stuff You Should Know: PCP

Josh and Chuck dive into the murky history of PCP, the dissociative drug that became synonymous with 1970s and 80s urban panic but never quite deserved its reputation as a chaos-inducing superhuman strength potion. They explore how this drug—originally created by German chemists and briefly marketed as a legitimate anesthetic—became a street drug primarily used in specific pockets of America, while also examining the harmful myths and racial biases that have surrounded it. From why ketamine eventually replaced it to the absurd urban legends that still persist today, this episode untangles fact from fiction around one of drug culture's most misunderstood substances.