Ketamine: What parents need to know
Ketamine, a powerful horse tranquilizer and anaesthetic, is an increasingly popular recreational drug of choice for teenagers, according to the latest government crime survey for England and Wales.
The proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds using the drug , the highest figure since records began in 2006-2007.
What should parents know about the drug?
Ketamine is an illegal, Class B drug. Possession carries a five year prison sentence. Dealing carries a 14 year sentence.
No one should take the drug. However, you may not be able to stop your children coming into contact with it. Being informed could help them make the right decisions if they do.
Wendy Teasdill’s 18-year-old daughter, Eleanor, died after taking ketamine at a festival. Professor Celia Morgan is Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Exeter.
They outlined their advice for parents on ±«Óãtv Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour Parenting Podcast.
Wendy Teasdill’s advice
Wendy’s daughter Eleanor took a line of ketamine powder while at the Boomtown Fair festival in Winchester in 2013. She was pronounced dead at hospital.
Coroner Sarah Kirby recorded a narrative verdict, which stated that Miss Rowe died as a result of alcohol and ketamine toxicity and central nervous system depression.
1.Don’t assume your child won’t take ketamine
“Don’t rule out your own young person because any of them can take it.
“The attitude of ‘my child wouldn’t do that’ is unfortunately blinkered, misguided, and self-delusional.
“Unfortunately I was very deluded. I never thought my daughter would take ketamine, and she did.”
2. Accessing ketamine is easier than you think
“It’s important to know that children are not necessarily going to be going to dodgy dealers hanging outside the school gates.
“They can all get access to these things through their phones, through the dark net. Or it could be through a friend of a friend. It’s normalised.
“It’s not something which to them seems different, it’s actually quite normal and a lot of people are doing it.
“That’s been the horrifying revelation to me, actually. I didn’t know anything about this before.”
3. Ketamine and alcohol don’t mix
“I think it’s important for it to be widely known that alcohol and ketamine do not mix.
“That’s how Eleanor died. I’m sure she was particularly sensitive and it was particularly strong ketamine, unadulterated.
“But she only had enough beer, had she been driving, to be just a little bit over the limit.”
4. Ketamine has no visible signs
“It used to be if you wanted to know if your child was smoking pot in their bedroom, you’d look for bloodshot eyes, you would be able to smell it.
“Those clues aren’t there [with ketamine]. They can take it and be done with it in quite a short space of time.
“At school it’s also a problem. Rather than going out and having a quick cigarette behind the bike sheds or a joint behind the bike sheds, which is what it might have been 20 or 30 years ago, they can just nip off and do a line of ketamine and nobody would know.
“You can’t smell it, there’s nothing to show. There are no visible signs.”
5. Keep talking to your child
“Not in the way of ‘don’t do drugs kids’, ‘say no’, which of course are very valid messages, but it doesn’t really work with young people. If you say ‘don’t do something’ they are like ‘bring it on, let’s do it, let’s try it out’.
“Don’t talk to them as if they are stupid, talk to them with information or ask them questions.
“Let them take the lead, let them think for themselves. Interact but don’t ignore.”
Professor Celia Morgan’s advice
Professor Celia Morgan is Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Exeter.
6. Warn them of ketamine’s strength
“Take a very, very small amount. Young people who take other drugs like cocaine often take a similar amount of ketamine, but ketamine is much, much stronger.
“So urge them to take a much smaller amount than they would of any other recreational drug.”
7. Ketamine use is widespread
“It’s found in rural areas and we have reports of kids in schools taking ketamine in their lunch breaks, so it’s really widespread.
“It’s cheap compared to other recreational drugs. And I think that might in part be responsible, in very pragmatic terms when we’re talking to users, for its spike in use.
“That and that its effects are short-lived and that it actually reduces anxiety acutely, unlike other drugs, and we know that anxiety is a huge problem among young people today.”
8. You can spot signs if your child has a problem
“You can spot signs if your child has a problem. If they become withdrawn, irritable, and this is across all drugs, not just ketamine.
“I think if you see someone on ketamine, it can be very disturbing for parents because it’s a dissociative drug, they seem completely separate from their environment, they seem like zombies in some cases, they don’t seem normal people at all. It’s very distressing for parents.
“Other signs to spot if they are developing a ketamine addiction would be if they are developing cystitis problems.”
9. Ketamine can cause serious bladder damage
“It causes bladder damage in some people who are addicted that is irreversible. It can result in you having to have your bladder removed.”
“Ketamine is quite unusual amongst all drugs in that it’s associated with something called ketamine-induced ulcerative cystitis.
“We’ve done studies where we’ve shown that ketamine actually has a toxic effect on the lining of the bladder and so even when people are using ketamine recreationally, it will make them want to go to the toilet more.
“As they start to become addicted to the drug, they will develop really severe bladder problems that can culminate in them needing to have their bladders removed.
“I’ve worked with some ketamine addicts as young as 16 or 18 who have had to have their bladders removed.
“This is horrendous for young people because it means you’re infertile and you have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of your life.
“So there are really, really serious consequences from taking the drug.”
10. Ketamine makes you susceptible to accidents
“When people are intoxicated, ketamine makes you susceptible to accidents.
“If your child is going to take it, make sure they have a friend who is not on ketamine who can watch out for them.”
More information about ketamine and support can be found via , and the .
The Woman's Hour Parenting Podcast is released every Wednesday.
You can listen to it here or download it on the ±«Óãtv Sounds app.
