What is Ketamine?

Ketamine is an anaesthetic which is used in surgery and veterinary medicine. Ketamine is a hallucinogen drug that causes hallucinations and is closely related to PCP (Phencyclidine). It is also know as a “date-rape” drug. Other names include Special K, K, Ket, Vitamin K and Cat tranquillizers.

It is available in tablets, pills, crystals, liquid and white powder. It can be swallowed, injected, snorted or smoked.

What Are the Effects?

Users have said they felt drunk, dizzy and numb in the body. Reported visual experiences include blurry vision, seeing "trails”, “astral travel” and intense and scary hallucinations. Others have said they felt weightless, having had an “out-of-body” or “near-death” experience (all these effects are called “dissociative”).

When Ketamine is taken in lower amounts, users may feel sleepy, have trouble thinking and concentrating and usually keep to themselves. They may feel confused and have a false perception of time and body.

When taking large amounts of Ketamine, users may babble and forget who or where they are. They may stumble if they try to walk. Their hearts may race and they may find it difficult to breathe. A large amount of Ketamine may produce high blood pressure, depression and potentially fatal breathing problems.

How Long Do the Effects Last?

Effects are generally felt between one and ten minutes and usually last about one hour.

Find out more on the effects of Ketamine use in the following articles:

• Do you Know...Ketamine
  on the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health site.

• Drugs: Know the Facts, Cut Your Risks – Ketamine
  from the Comité québécois de lutte aux dépendances.

• Club Drugs
  from the United States’ National Institute on Drug Abuse site.

Is It Dangerous?

Ketamine is dangerous. In its liquid and powder forms, Ketamine can unknowingly be slipped into other people’s drinks to prevent victims from resisting sexual assault. It is often called a "date rape" drug. Combining Ketamine with alcohol or other medications could lead to death.

When at parties, people have to watch their drinks!

Ketamine is dangerous because of its side effects, including:

• loss of consciousness with the possibility of suffocation, by breathing vomit into the lungs
• preventing users from feeling pain
• mental health (psychological and psychiatric) and neurological problems
• digestive problems (feeling sick, throwing up)
• in higher amounts, it prevents the central nervous system from working by reducing the level of oxygen in the brain, heart and muscles, which can lead to death

Where Does It Come From?

In 1962, Ketamine was developed as a medication for treating animals.