Ketamine’s move from club to ‘chill out’ drug is sign of a troubling culture shift
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Experts say mental health treatment is key to tackling rise in UK, rather than simply reclassifying drug as class A. It was once viewed as a fringe club drug whose use as a horse tranquilliser gave it a “dirty” reputation. But with illegal ketamine use reaching record levels, the Home Office announced last week that it was considering reclassifying it as a class A drug in response to a dramatic increase in use among young people.
An estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 reported ketamine use in the year ending March 2023 in England and Wales, the largest number on record, according to Home Office data. Behind the headline figures, there is also evidence of a troubling culture shift, with an increasing number of people taking the drug, which has dissociative, anaesthetic and psychedelic effects, at home rather than in an occasional party setting. This heightens the risk of dependency, experts say, which can lead to devastating health consequences.
“Ketamine has moved beyond a ‘club drug’ to a substance that is used for a wider range of motivations,” said Robert Ralphs, a professor of criminology and social policy at Manchester Metropolitan University. Ralph’s recent research in Greater Manchester found some young people took the drug, typically bought as a crystalline powder, to “chill out” after a day working or studying. Others reported taking ketamine daily and in high amounts to self-medicate mental health problems.
“It’s literally an escape from reality, which can be attractive to people battling anxiety and trauma,” said Harry Shapiro, the director of the charity DrugWise. “If you’re going to fix things you need to look at mental health services. That’s where you start addressing some of these issues.”.
