Rave
Image: Flick.com (Marcus Vegas)
Rave drug Ketamine targeted for reclassification
Use of "raver's smack" on the rise amongst young people, study finds
Wednesday 28 January 2009, The Journal Issue 17
Article tools
- Print article
- Increase or Decrease text size
- Share:
- Show 3 comments
The drug Ketamine, a horse tranquilliser that was used to treat soldiers in Vietnam, is being taken recreationally by more and more young people, according to a recent report.
The drug—which can be swallowed or injected—was previously considered a drug for ravers, but it has increasingly been taken up as the party drug of choice due to its low classification, cheap price, and perception that it is safer and "cleaner" than other drugs.
Known colloquially as as "special K" or "raver’s smack," the popularity of the sedative has almost doubled over the last decade – from around 60,000 users in 1998 to an estimated 113,000 in 2008. Increased usage of the drug has been reported in Portsmouth, London, Bristol, Ipswich, Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield, Blackpool and Newcastle. Individuals have also posted videos of themselves using the drug on you tube.
"Evidence of young people using ketamine is a particular concern, especially as many users may underestimate the risks involved. Ketamine's harm increases considerably at high doses and injecting users risk exposure to blood-borne viruses such as Hepatitis C or HIV,” said Martin Barnes, chief executive of the public body DrugScope.
Professor David Nutt, chairman of the government’s drug advisory panel, ranked it as the sixth most dangerous illegal drug on the market, overtaking ecstasy and cannabis.
One user, a 27-year-old marketing executive who takes the drug once a week said: "I see it as a fun, sociable drug. It makes you feel anaesthetised to your worries. You forget about your normal life and everything is euphoric. Sometimes I've had bad trips, but I've never felt angry when on ketamine. I think it is a lot safer too.”
However, the physical effects of the drug can cause heart and lung failure, with 23 recorded deaths between 1993 and 2006. Ketamine was classified as a Class C substance in January 2006, while cannabis has been reclassified as Class B.
Whoever wrote this either ran out of time and pulled the entire thing out of his ass or...no, that's actually the only explanation I can think of.
First of all, no one calls ketamine 'raver's smack'. Whoever told the writer this was taking the piss. Show me the person who voluntarily compares a drug he's taking with heroin and I'll show you a flying goat.
Second, ket is generally snorted, not swallowed, and I've never once seen it injected. I can't think of a more inconvenient or retarded manner in which to take a drug that goes easily up the nose. So rest easy, Martin Barnes of DrugScope (or I'veNoFuckingClueWhatI'mTalkingAboutScope?), your feared Hepatitis/HIV epidemic due to ket is completely ridiculous.
Third, what's with the use of the word 'rave' here? Can I assume the writer means club nights with pulsing lights and techno music? And can I have a ride in the time machine that took him back to the '90s, when people still called that a 'rave'?
And finally, who the hell takes ketamine - which makes you tripped out, chilled out, and semi-immobile - at a 'rave', where the main objective is to dance wildly about. Maybe the same phantom idiots who are injecting a drug everyone else snorts and who call techno nights 'raves'.
Seriously, what or who were the sources for this article? My grandfather? A grey squirrel? This was actually embarrassing to read, and disturbing in its sheer volume of misinformation. Going to go snort some ket now to calm down.
Not Ipswich!
Ket can be injected, giving it a more intense high, but it's not common. I agree with Caitlin on this, huge amounts of mis-information, no one even calls it special k anymore.
The recent 'revelation' in research pointing K towards bladder problems is nothing new for ketamin users, ask anyone who's been sniffing for long enough and they will tell you about it, and how to avoid it. This is a very misunderstood drug, for instance Ketamin is a horse tranquilizer, but it was created in World War (1 or 2) when they didn't have time to find out if soldiers were allergic to anesthetic before emergency medical procedures, so they used Ketamin instead, it is still used in dentists and some plastic surgery.
I'm not a journalist, but please if you write an article like this, do SOME research at least, and I dont mean google, wikipedia and Caitlins grandad.