Also, phencyclidine has a distinctly metalic taste when smoked.
There are several reasons why I chose San Jose.
1.) Historical: Use became really widespread in the 70s ( which it did everywhere else too.) Use continued when it slowed down elsewhere through the mid-late 80s.
2.) In contrast to other cities where PCP was a islolated to certain ethnic groups, in San Jose PCP crossed ethnic lines. Slang names for PCP are
KJ (among white users),
blast (among blacks), and
lenios or
lenos with a
~ over the n (among hispanic enthusiasts.) Now, as then, PCP is used primarily by hispanics but the cultural chiasm isn't as deep as in other places.
3.)
Also, back in the 80's, any really 3rd world dead end city. Bizarre little ghettos/projects out in the middle of no where. Also, certain parts of certain cities.
Whats interesting is that San Jose in the 80s when KJ use was high had the highest per capita income of any city in the US (which migh still be the case.) At that time 80% of the microchips in the world were produced in the Silicon Valley which is basically San Jose and its suburbs. The east side is were the largest scene was concentrated. And there was an open air scene at Montery Rd and Senter which was nicknamed KJ corner. My friend used to describe the PCP high as going into cyberspace. Its ironic that the drug is so big in the city that played such a large role in the development of the internet as we know it.
4.)Use was common among my friends growing up (who were middle to upper middle class kids.) What suprised me is how little was around when I moved to San Diego. Also the drug was very much in the news through the 80s and early 90s and I would hear about PCP lab bust in the area specifically. Turns out that the area has a small cottage PCP making industry that persists to this day because you hear of busts periodically.
5.) When I moved back to the Silicon Valley late 90s- 2004 in NA you would encounter people that had been strung out on the drug. Hadn't seen that in other areas including LA on even close to the same scale. And from the meetings I learned that a healthy scene for lenios persisted.
6.) Interesting fact for people that hate the drug war. Joseph McNamara was police chief of San Jose from 1976-1990 (I think). He was a very vocal opponent
of the drug war at a time when being against drug prohibition wasn't fashionable, especially by a police chief. Police tolerance decreased in the late 90s but I had cops search me, find buds and not only did they not ticket me they gave them back, all before medical MJ. Rather than the city plunging into chaos and other domesday scenarios that drug warriors would predict, San Jose was found to be the safest city during this time period according to FBI statistics. McNamara now is a professor @ Stanford and still highly critical of the drug war. One study that he conducted found that a majority of police chiefs surveyed felt that drug prohibition was a failure.
See
http://books.google.com/books?id=Xv...e+pHENCYCLIDINE+capital+of+the+world#PPA66,M1
http://www.drugfreeworkplace.com/drugsofabuse/pcp.htm
San Jose's status mentioned under "incidence of abuse"
http://www.svcn.com/archives/wgresident/11.07.01/pcp-lab-0145.html
Wish I had more and better links but there isn't much out there.