Research Paper: on Sherm
Sherm smoking:
In certain ways it is sad to hear, that most people have heard enough times or know enough people that they could admit to themselves that these drugs like ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroine, doesn’t come to a surprise when you hear that certain people around are consuming these drugs. Most people feel like they get there influences always may come from the music they listen to; it may be from listening “To live and die in La” -“Niggas getting shermed out” or “I ain’t mad at cha”- “On the block, witcha glock, trippin off sherm” both by a popular rap artist Tupac Shakur. Hip Hop and Indie music has the music has the most references to smoking sherm or being on the trip after smoking it. This type of mixed drug was first intended to be a cigarette dipped in certain chemicals that have been already mixed (PCP and embalming fluid).
The substance Phencyclidine was introduced and developed in 1926 by Parke-Davis and the Company under the trade named Sernyl and the name was said to have rooted from the word serenity. During some time after, Phencyclidine was being tested with animals to test if the substance can help reduce or eliminate pain, and as a result it showed that it would be effective for anesthetic uses. Once the federal government gave the approval to Parke-Davis that Phencyclidine could be used on humans through a needle form could be injected; they used it for burn patients, after surgery relief, during surgery sensations, and a pain killer. In 1956, it was introduced for medical purposes in the US and British patients; it was intended to be used on medical human anesthetics. By 1965, this medical anesthetic soon ended for the use of humans, but soon became discontinued their merchandise for “human anesthetics” and instead on the market for “veterinary anesthetics” because some human patients had resulted with psychological problems from the tests, or drug effects.
Soon after PCP became a recreational substance, and was often taken in a pill form and weren’t prepared for the side effects that came along with it (unpleasant). It first came out in San Francisco as "the PeaCe Pill”, the peace pill dropped low as a reputation for a drug. During the mid-1970's people started to find out different ways to experiment with this drug like snorting or smoking, it was said that it gave users a more immediate high; in result, powder form of PCP evolved and became more popular than the pill, and gave the name "Angel Dust"(cesar). During the era of “Angel Dust”, where most people often got confused in what they were really smoking was nothing different to PCP, but the exact same thing; and would mix some low quality marijuana with angel dust to produce a more powerful effect when smoking it. Depending on the black market, or wherever the dealer may find the PCP at now days, it can contaminate the color from making it range from tan to brown, and from being powder to gummy.
Embalming Fluid goes back all the way to the Ancient Egyptians and would use different embalming methods to preserve bodies, because they believed in life after death and their souls were going to the gods. Then the American Civil war started to use embalming to preserve some of their dead from the war so that their bodies could be preserved for their families or loved ones. Embalming fluid is a substance that is used in morgues, and funeral homes. The way morticians preserve the body is by draining out all the blood from the body, and injecting the embalming fluid to the corpse, so that the body doesn’t decay. Embalming fluid is a compound of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol and other solvents (associated).
The actual "Sherm Stick" became popular in mid 1980's, the other names that were and are used is "fry", "Wet", "Illy", "Happy Sticks”, “Dip" and many more. In the process to handling this drug, the embalming fluid is then purchased by a dealer who pays around $15-$20 a gallon or less, and then PCP is added to the chemical and poured into small containers (1-2 ounces) for re-sellers. The way a sherm stick is made, is by submerging a joint of marijuana, tobacco, tea, or other substances that can be sometimes substituted into the solution made either by the dealer or home-made. They can only be removed from the solution when it has been allowed to dry enough so they don't wet in any kind of way when touched. When it is dry, a sherm stick is placed in something like aluminum foil until it is smoked or sold to a user and sold from $5 -$10 (a1b2c3).
When taken "Sherm Stick" joint or cigarettes in recreational doses the symptoms may include: reacting in a dissociative state (which reduces (or blocks) signals to the conscious mind from other parts of the brain, typically, but not necessarily, limited to the senses.), anger/rage, Psychosis, Euphoria, Animation, Intoxication, and Numbness. The effects on this drug can be obviously very dangerous to the body when consumed. PCP is constantly being mistaken as a classified hallucinogen drug, or the same “high” you would get if a person was on LSD, but they are both not true; PCP would have to be taken in a large dose to have hallucinations. And for a while people didn’t buy PCP, because it had a bad “high” and started to receive a bad reputation for it; so it was soon confused by dealers to their buyers as LSD It has been said that a trip on sherm could feel like "being totally drunk on methamphetamine and acid at once" (Associated).
A common confusion that is constantly repeated is that the substance used is embalming fluid (formaldehyde), and not PCP. But in fact PCP is what the substance is made out of, the street name of it is embalming fluid; PCP can also come in a liquid form, which is how the ‘fluid’ gives a part in the name. Embalming fluid is used in morgues and funeral homes to help preserve the body so it doesn’t rot, and this type of fluid is made out of 5 to 29% of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde doesn’t have any traces of PCP in it, and are totally different chemicals; and formaldehyde has hardly any evidence to show that it has any desirable effects. If inhaled or applied to skin some of the side effects could result in bronchitis, body tissue destruction, brain damage, lung damage, impaired coordination, and inflammation and sores in the throat, nose, and esophagus (streetdrugs). Formaldehyde is known as an extreme carcinogen, so if it is consumed in the body some it can lead to possible lung, nasal, or brain cancer and leukemia. Just do not smoke it (Erowid).
PCP is slanged as "embalming fluid" by drug dealers because this drug promotes a feeling of numbness to its users. Some say it gives a feeling like being dead, so that could explain the name "embalming fluid". This flammable type of substance cannot be lit by a lighter, but only by another cigarette.
In the end, there will be no one else to blame but yourself. People can go on and on about there addiction to whatever drug and blame it on other people but themselves, but if a person is letting themselves being influenced by music, friends, society and so on then there not really living their own life; there living a life that is not even real for no one. You’re just living a life of a trip on PCP, or you may be thinking that Tupac Shakur was your idol and so you have to be similar to what his music said because he was music was influenced depending on the drugs he did. No one is allowed to judge nobody in the end, either you live, or you die; because even Tupac once said “A coward dies a thousand deaths....a soldier dies but once. Only God can judge me”- Tupac Shakur
Short Story:
