The rising popularity of ketamine was uncovered in a shocking report that revealed how recreational use of the potentially fatal drug has risen among young people.
It follows the heartbreaking death of Drag Star The Vivienne who died of a cardiac arrest that was linked to addiction to the party drug in January of this year.
The use of ketamine for 16 to 24-year-olds reached a record high in 2023, in which almost 1 in 25 young people admitted that they use the medicine in the UK, according to the latest figures.
Now doctors are concerned that this epidemic is only getting worse, with more people looking for treatment for addiction than ever before.
A new report published in the British Medical Journal showed that between 2023 and 2024 3,609 people started treatment for ketamine addiction in England, a figure eight times higher than the 426 only reported a decade earlier.
The use of the drug in 16 to 24-year-olds doubled more than from 1.7 percent to an alarming 3.8 percent between 2010 and 2023.
The drug is usually called ‘k’ or ‘ket’ and acts as an anesthetic, and produces feelings of detached euphoria when it is taken in high doses.
Taking ketamine can be fatal, especially if it is mixed with other medicines. Ketamine can increase the heart rate and blood pressure of a user, which means they run the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
The substance-now uses in private clinics due to the alleged antidepressant effect can cause damage to the body, causing bladder problems and kidney failure with routine use
Special K, Ket or Kit Kat (photo), as it is also known, was popular as a party drug in the late 1990s, when it was often taken at Raves for every night. But the number in particular is increasing, with more people looking for treatment
Dish Medici from King’s College London said that the increase is driven by the affordability of ketamine, as well as a lack of understanding of the harmful side effects, including organ damage.
Teachers have also expressed his concern that the medicine is taken by children during school hours, because it is called a ‘transit ritual’ by Mark O’Hagan, main teacher at the Sacred Heart Catholic Academy, Liverpool.
Dr. Irene Guerrini, an addiction psychiatrist of King’s College London, said in the new report: “Long -term use can seriously harm both physical and mental health, which reduces the quality of life, influencing personal relationships and an attack on academic or professional performance. ‘
Despite the classification as a class B medicine under the abuse of Drug Act, for which the maximum fine for possession is up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine, it is estimated that it is estimated to be illegally available for only £ 20 per gram.
Ketamine is used clinically as a general anesthesia, with even lower doses prescribed for chronic pain, treatment -resistant depression and suicidal thoughts.
There is also some evidence that it can be effective when treating post -traumatic stress disorder and alcohol addiction.
Dr. However, Guerrini warned that the drug is increasingly used in doses of 250 mg or more recreational, which can quickly reduce the sensations and even inhibit the memory.
Tolerance for the medicine – which is usually sold in powder form that users sniff – is known to build quickly.
Now in an attempt to increase the consciousness of the dangers of ketamine, the Vivienne family said that James loved his first addiction and relapse secret of them. The Vivienne here with their sister Chanel and comedian Omid Djalili
This means that users need more and more of the material to feel the same high, which increases the risk of overdose or experiences serious adverse side effects, such as bladder problems.
“Ketamine induced uropathy and thickening of the bladder is a common and serious complication,” Dr. warned Guerrini.
This condition includes a blockade in the urinary tract so that urine can make a backup and damage the kidneys.
More than a quarter of the regular ketamine users in the UK report at least one bladder-related problem, including a painful burning sensation when passing urine, which have to pee more often and incontinence.
Higher doses can also lead to a phenomenon that is known as the ‘K-Hole’, an intense sense of dissociation and are unable to connect to reality.
According to Dr. Guerrini is the only way to treat these serious problems abstinence – where a person actively chooses to stop taking the medicine.
If a user does not stop taking the medicine while experiencing these problems, ‘irreversible bladder and kidney damage’ can occur, Dr. warned Guerrini.
This can lead to users needing a bladder transplantation or normal bladder instillation treatments – where medicines are used to stretch the bladder back to its normal size.
The Vivienne was catapulted to international fame after winning the first series of Rupaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019 (depicted), but in the midst of their turnout, they also fought with a ketamine addiction that they saw drugs for ‘breakfast, lunch and dinner’
Regarding Dr. Guerrini, “patients who attend the Emergency Department report that health care professionals are not aware that ketamine can cause addiction.”
The authors of the report are now campaigning for all young people who present urinary or abdominal symptoms to be routinely asked about the use of ketamine.
They say that the current treatment options for the drug are not effective and that developing a generally recognized better screening tools can help support previous rehabilitation.
Dr. Guerrini said: ‘Bringing the medical value of ketamine into balance with increasing non-prescribed use is a complex challenge.
“The growth of private clinics that offer ketamine to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders, in addition to cheerful media attention, the risks to normalize that there is non-controlled or self-driven use,” he added.
This is when the Vivienne family, whose real name James Lee Williams was, has revealed that the Late Drag star kept their ketamine a secret for years.
In an episode of 2019 from Rupaul’s Drag Race, Williams revealed to viewers that they had been addicted to the party drug for years.
The Vivienne also described Ketamine as their ‘breakfast, lunch and dinner’ at the height of addiction and in one go their drug use led them to be admitted to hospital three times in one month.
Williams, only 32, was found dead in their bathroom after having had a cardiac arrest with regard to drug abuse and side effects of ketamine.
Their family is now campaigning to tackle the stigma around addiction and to call on the government to re -class Ketamine as a class A medical mite.
This would bring ketamine to the same level as cocaine and heroin and wear the highest penalties for possession, supply or production.
The home office is now considering the reclassification of the medicine, but the opinions remain divided, in which Dr. Guerrini warns that classification is not the only problem.
He said: “A proportional reaction must go beyond legislation to include clear management of therapeutic use, investments in treatment and prevention and balanced public messages.”
#Doctors #increase #alarm #numbers #dangerous #party #drug #ensures #failure #bladder #rises #eightfoldly #experts #transition #ritual #young #people