Smoking Embalming Fluid: What to Know About Sherm

Often glamorized in street culture and misunderstood by the public, sherm is one of the most dangerous and deceptive drugs on the market. Typically referring to cigarettes or joints dipped in PCP, sherm creates a high that’s intense, unpredictable, and deeply destructive. Though the slang may vary—wet, fry, dipstick—the dangers remain the same: aggression, hallucinations, dissociation, and long-term brain damage. Understanding what sherm is and how it affects the mind and body is the first step toward protecting yourself or a loved one from its devastating consequences. 

What Is Sherm?  

Sherm is drug slang for dipping either cigarettes or “joints” (marijuana cigarettes) in phencyclidine (PCP) or embalming fluid and then smoking it. However, most sherm use PCP.  

Known as “angel dust” on the street, PCP is a lab-made anaesthetic that can cause intense hallucinations, aggression, paranoia, and dissociation. It’s classified as a Schedule II Controlled Substance, meaning smoking sherm is highly illegal, as well as highly addictive. Once the body has become used to sherm, painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms ensue when a person tries to stop using it. Long-term, it can even lead to brain damage, making sherm a particularly nasty drug.  

Street Names for Sherm 

Aside from sherm, PCP-dipped cigarettes or joints go by a variety of street names, depending on region and community.  

Some of the most common include: 

• Sherm stick – A cigarette or joint dipped in PCP. 

• Wet – Refers to the liquid form of PCP or the soaked cigarette itself. 

• Fry or Fry stick – Popular in the Southern U.S., especially Texas. 

• Illy – Short for “ill,” used to describe the disorienting high. 

• Water – A slang term for the PCP solution itself. 

• Leak – Another term referencing the dripping of the liquid PCP. 

• Amp – Sometimes used in urban slang for a laced cigarette. 

• Dipstick – A cigarette that has been dipped in PCP. 

• Happy stick – An ironic term for a drug that often leads to violent or erratic behavior. 

These names are often used interchangeably with slight variations by region or among different user groups. 

Is PCP Embalming Fluid? 

No, PCP is an anaesthetic and is not used in mortuaries. Moreover, the idea that sherm involves embalming fluid is mostly a misnomer. The confusion stems from the fact that liquid PCP’s pungent smell is reminiscent of formaldehyde (and that so many apparently were familiar with the smell of embalming fluid speaks volumes for the dire circumstances in which the sherm originated). “Embalming fluid” is thus mostly a code of sorts for the actual substance.