What it is
A man-made drug, which has anaesthetic (sleep promoting) and hallucinogenic effects. It is used medically for operations on humans and animals. As a street drug it usually comes as a white crystalline powder or as a tablet.
Street names
Names include green K, K, special K, super K, tekno, tekno smack and vitamin K. Hallucinating on ketamine is called 'K holing'.
How it is taken
The powder is usually snorted and tablets are swallowed. It can also be prepared for injection and occasionally comes in small phials.
Extent of use
There have been few surveys about how widely it has been used but it is clear that use has increased over the last few years, especially in clubs. In a 2000 survey of clubbers 30% claimed to have used it at least once. Most users will be over -16 and will use on an occasional, rather than regular basis.
Effects of use
- Snorting the powder brings on effects very quickly which last for up to an hour. Swallowing tablets produces effects within 15 minutes lasting up to 4 hours. Injecting gives immediate effects that last up to 4 hours.
- To start with users often feel energetic, an effect that have been compared to ecstasy.
- This is followed by a downer effect with slurring of speech, lack of co-ordination, numbness and sometimes nausea and vomiting.
- Some users start to find it difficult to move and cannot speak.
- With larger or repeat doses hallucinations occur and the senses are distorted. This may include a loss of sense of time, feeling disconnected from the body and a sensation of floating. Some users have had 'out of body' and 'near death' experiences.
- Hallucinations often start and disappear faster than with LSD but are often very powerful and disorientating.
- Some users find that ketamine makes them very aggressive.
Risks of use
- The heavy, downer effects result in numbness and lack of co-ordination, and reduce the awareness of pain. Large doses can result in loss of consciousness. Falling over and accidents may be more likely.
- As with anaesthetics, eating or drinking before use can result in vomiting. If users become unconscious they could choke on their own vomit.
- Hallucinations can be very disturbing, especially if users are already anxious or depressed.
- Large doses can result in heart failure. A few people have died after injecting large doses.
- Combining use of ketamine with use of other downer drugs (alcohol, heroin, methadone, tranquillisers etc) can be particularly dangerous.
- It may be difficult to know how strong a dose is being taken or whether other drugs are mixed in with it.
- Little is known about the risks of regular use over a period. However, some people say risks can include panic attacks, delusions, depression, insomnia and the possibility of suicide.
- With regular use people often find they have to take more to get an effect.
- While not a drug of physical dependence, regular users may become psychologically dependent on ketamine, especially if they inject it.
The law
Ketamine is not covered under the Misuse of Drugs Act and possession is not an offence. It is controlled as a medicine under the Medicines Act and unauthorised supply is an offence.
