Ketamine addiction
Ketamine (‘Special K’) is categorised as a ‘dissociative anaesthetic’. It is used in powdered or liquid form as an anaesthetic, a drug designed for use in a hospital or veterinary setting, and it is widely abused.
Users often misjudge the risks of ketamine and mistakenly believe the drug is non-addictive. Ketamine addiction is real and it is dangerous. Using ketamine regularly or repeatedly can quickly lead to a range of symptoms associated with increased tolerance and dependence. Ketamine addiction may not be as difficult to overcome as some other addictions, but the dangers and risks are still very real.
Ketamine has hallucinogenic and painkilling qualities that seem to affect people in very different ways. It can be injected, consumed in drinks, snorted, or added to joints or cigarettes.
Short-term and long-term effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, numbness, depression, amnesia, hallucinations and potentially fatal respiratory problems. Users can also develop cravings for the drug.
At high doses, users experience an effect referred to as the ‘K-hole’, an ‘out of body’ or ‘near-death’ experience. Because ketamine creates a detached, dreamlike state in which the user finds it difficult to move, it has been used as a ‘date-rape’ drug.
The K effect
The K effect is very rapid. Even small amounts of Special K may produce a dreamy state and a feeling of floating outside the body. Users have reported their arms and legs feeling numb in the early stages of the trip. Within 10 to 20 minutes they can find themselves hardly able to move and, at higher doses, the experience has been described as approaching an out-of-body or near-death experience.