A Bridgeport drug counselor is building awareness regarding the dangers of PCP use, which he says is on the rise.

News 12’s Frank Recchia spoke with a PCP user who says the popularity of the drug is increasing because it’s much cheaper than other illicit drugs.

Alberto Morales, 36, tells News 12 that with so many people out of work and stuck in their homes as a result of the coronavirus, he and many people he knows have turned to PCP as

practical alternatives to more expensive drugs such as oxycodone, cocaine, fentanyl and heroin.

Jorge Cruz, a recovery specialist for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, says he’s seen a rise in clinical cases involving the effects of long-term PCP addiction - a trend he believes has been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.

“They’re basically in their own prison at home,” Cruz says. “They’re bored so they find something to do, but when they do PCP, what they don’t realize is they are jumping into a new world of hallucinations, of becoming a different person, with different feelings, different emotions and different perspectives.”

Cruz says people using PCP can become very dangerous to themselves and to people around them.