Embalming fluid-soaked marijuana: new high or new guise for PCP?
J A Holland, L Nelson, P R Ravikumar, W N Elwood
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 1998 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.1998.10399693 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | The authors report that a sample of fluid purported to be embalming fluid contained PCP and multiple congeners and by-products of PCP manufacture, and they consider the hypothesis that most embalming fluid-soaked marijuana likely contains PCP. |
Abstract
A growing trend of smoking marijuana soaked in what is purported to be embalming fluid has been reported in the literature since the mid-1980s. This article describes several cases of intoxication, gives regional epidemiological data on this phenomenon, and includes current nomenclature. The authors also analyze a sample of fluid said to be embalming fluid and discover PCP (phencyclidine) and multiple congeners and by-products of PCP manufacture. The implications of this finding are discussed, and the hypothesis that most embalming fluid-soaked marijuana likely contains PCP is considered.
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychotic Reactions Following Cannabis Use in East Indians Patients at an Indian drug addiction clinic who developed acute cannabis-related psychosis | 1974 | Descriptive report (case series of clinical observations) | n = 200 |
| Psychiatric effects of cannabis use Swedish cases of cannabis psychosis | 1985 | Case series | n = 70 |
| Forty-Six Cases of Psychosis in Cannabis Abusers Gunila Bernhardson Habitual cannabis users treated for psychosis at Swedish psychiatric clinics and mental... | 1972 | Case series (retrospective survey of psychiatric records) | n = 46 |
| Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder after psilocybin consumption: a case study 18-year-old man with HPPD after mixed psilocybin and cannabis intoxication | 2005 | Case study | n = 1 |
| Cannabis‐induced Koro in Americans American men aged 22-26 with years of cannabis experience who reported negative... | 2001 | Case series | n = 3 |