Things You Need To Know

STREET NAMES: K, Special K, Vitamin K, Breakfast, Jet, Super Acid, Cat Valium.
Ketamine is the drug flavor-of-the-month in much of the United States and Europe right now, particularly among dance-club devotees and ravers.
APPEARANCE: Although ketamine is liquid, it's often microwaved until dry, and then crushed into a powder. Ketamine can also be found in pill form. It is snorted, swallowed, or injected directly into the muscle.

ACTIONS/EFFECTS: In the brain, ketamine acts at the same receptor sites as PCP, and alters the function of several neurotransmitter systems. Drug effects come on fast, usually within 15 seconds of injection or inhalation. After a brief period (10-15 minutes) of unconsciousness and a longer period (30-40 minutes) of anesthesia, users commonly report intense hallucinations, depersonalization, out-of-body experiences, and bizarre or mystical experiences. Ketamine's effects can vary with the person's body size, built-up tolerance, the presence of other drugs, the method of administration, and the setting in which the drug is consumed.

The effects of Ketamine may only last an hour or less, but person's senses, judgment, and coordination may be affected for 18 to 24 hours. Tests can detect Ketamine in a person's system up to 48 hours of ingestion. Small doses block the body’s pain response, causing self-injury and larger doses lower the heart rate, leading to oxygen depletion of the brain and muscles. Overdoses can cause the heart to stop beating and, possibly, temporary paralysis.

DATE RAPE: As with GHB, people who think they have been given Ketamine are strongly encouraged to go to a hospital where they can be immediately tested. Ketamine can cause a

dissociation of the mind from the body (called a "K-Hole"). It works much like LSD or PCP and produces similar side-effects. The person may hallucinate and feel as through they have entered another reality. The drug blocks all sensory input to the brain, so the brain fills in the spaces. This works to the rapist's advantage because the victim suffers from amnesia and hallucinations which may make recollection nearly impossible.
SIDE EFFECTS: Common side effects include muscle spasm, blurred vision, dizziness, slurred speech, respiratory depression, and impaired coordination. Visual "flashbacks" are sometimes reported days or weeks after use. Also, amnesia, aggressive behavior, and paranoid or delusional thinking sometimes occur.
DURATION: Depends on dose. Impaired thinking may persist for hours.
ADDICTION POTENTIAL: Tolerance to effects builds quickly, and habituation is possible.
LEGAL: Ketamine is illegal to posses for personal use in the United States, because its only legitimate use is as a veterinary anesthetic or animal tranquilizer. Because of this, the two ways in which Ketamine is delivered into an abuser's hands is through the illegitimate diversion of legitimate products or through burglaries of veterinarian practices.

Information taken from a series of publications on drugs, behavior, and health published by Do It Now Foundation.