Ketamine | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Parents in the United States have sometimes been surprised to find a picture of a breakfast cereal box on their child's bedroom wall. The breakfast cereal is Special K, and the display may well indicate their teen's interest in the drug ketamine, which is commonly referred to as "Special K," although there is no relationship at all between ketamine and the cereal or its manufacturer. As ketamine abuse has become increasingly common during recent years, other slang or street names have developed, such as "Vitamin K" and just "K." Persons under the influence of ketamine are sometimes said to be in a "K-hole" or in "K-land."

Ketamine is used medically to produce a brief period of anesthesia, during which the individual usually feels as if he or she is dissociated, or separated, from his or her body. This is called dissociative anesthesia. Ketamine is given by injection and is most commonly used in pediatric patients undergoing short, outpatient surgical procedures. It is also used in clinics for patients who have painful burns that require frequent changing of the dressings. When patients are anesthetized with ketamine, they usually do not respond to pain and appear very intoxicated, although they rarely actually lose consciousness. They often have their eyes open and even move their arms and legs. Patients usually do not remember what happened to them while theywere anesthetized with ketamine. When they recover from the anesthesia, patients often have unusual dreams and have trouble thinking clearly. As patients emerge from a ketamine-induced state, these reactions can be severe. People who abuse ketamine sometimes take high doses in order to produce a similar dissociative anesthetic state.

Ketamine is also used by veterinarians to produce anesthesia for surgical procedures on pets and other animals. It can also be delivered through an injector gun to capture wild animals. Animals typically recover quickly from ketamine anesthesia or immobilization and are fine afterward. The veterinary source of ketamine is the basis for such street names as "cat Valium" and "kit kat."

The source of abused ketamine almost always is the theft of medical or veterinary supplies. Therefore, the drug is usually found in multi-injectionvials, or bottles into which a needle can be inserted and some of the contents removed. Abusers often inject themselves or their friends with ketamine from these vials, either in a vein or, more typically, in a muscle. It is also possible to drink a solution of ketamine, but this is rarely done. In some cases, sellers will remove the ketamine from syringes and dry it by evaporation or by "cooking" it in a spoon or bottle cap heated by a lighter. In this case it looks like a powder, which can then be inhaled or smoked or even made into a tablet or capsule.

If ketamine is taken by injection, especially into the veins, the effects can come on very suddenly. If it is smoked or inhaled, the effects may take five to fifteen minutes to appear. People usually do not remain intoxicated on ketamine for very long, with most of the effects gone in an hour or two. Its effects are much shorter than those of PCP. Even so, as with PCP, users of ketamine can often feel strange for a day or two after using it.

Although tests are readily available to measure PCP in the blood or urine of persons who use it, such analytical procedures are rarely used for ketamine. With the increase in ketamine abuse, this situation may change.

The effects of ketamine are very similar to those of PCP. (The effects of PCP are discussed in the article Phencyclidine [PCP].) In fact, sometimes people who buy ketamine on the street are actually buying PCP, a drug that is easier to make. Like PCP, the effects of ketamine depend on the dose used. Abusers can sometimes anesthetize themselves if they take a very high dose, but usually they experience a dreamy state accompanied by changes in perception, particularly involving abnormal body feelings. It is common to experience nausea and dizziness. Reports of ketamine addiction are rare, but some tolerance to its effects can develop with repeated use.

Because ketamine is sometimes used in raves or other party scenes, it is often referred to as one of the "club drugs." Two other prominent club drugs are ecstasy (MDMA) and GHB. These club drugs produce very different kinds of effects and should not be confused with one another. When relatively low doses of ketamine are taken at dances, users can have a heightened experience of the music, the kinetic light displays, and their own dancing. These experiences are sometimes referred to as "K-waves."

Probably the greatest danger to ketamine abusers is that they will harm themselves or others while intoxicated. Ketamine, because of its depressant effects, interferes with coordination and produces dizziness and confused thinking, greatly increasing the risk of accidents or other harmful behaviors. Alcohol also has depressant effects and can increase ketamine intoxication when they are used together. If users vomit, the vomit can get inside their lungs, resulting in a serious medical emergency or death. Because ketamine intoxication can result in bizarre and unpredictable behavior, ketamine users often become involved in fights or other violent acts.

As with PCP, ketamine abusers can also have very bad experiences, including bad trips, panic attacks, and exaggerated mood swings. They can be enjoying themselves one minute and then, with little warning, become frightened, act bizarrely, and become a danger to themselves and to others around them. People who may be at risk for mental illness may experience psychological problems as a result of ketamine use. Relatively little is known about the problems of long-term use of ketamine, but some abusers may develop personality changes and a mental illness similar to that sometimes seen in PCP abusers.

Despite its clear dangers, there are people who promote the use of ketamine as a way to expand the mind and achieve a spiritual discovery. Just as the ideas of Timothy Leary, a Harvard professor, prompted many people to take LSD in the 1960s, Dr. John Lilly, a neuroscientist, advocated the use of ketamine. His book, The Scientist: A Metaphysical Autobiography (1996), is widely cited on the Internet as a source of inspiration for ketamine users. People who arethinking about trying ketamine for its effects on the mind should be aware that the drug can be extremely dangerous.

Hallucinogens; Phencyclidine (Pcp); Rave.

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