The Home Office has announced a review of ketamine to decide whether to upgrade it to a Class A drug.
According to the Office for National Statistics, illegal ketamine use has more than doubled since 2016 and more than tripled among 16 to 24-year-olds.
The drug, commonly detected in spiking incidents, is linked to irreversible bladder and kidney damage and has addictive properties.
Extremely dangerous
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson has stated she will contact the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to receive expert advice on the reclassification, stating: “It is vital we are responding to all the latest evidence and advice to ensure people’s safety.”
She added: “Ketamine is an extremely dangerous substance and the recent rise in its use is deeply concerning.
“Through our Plan for Change and mission to make the nation’s streets safer, we will work across health, policing and wider public services to drive down drug use and stop those who profit from its supply.”
Devastating impact
Penny Williams, Chief Executive of addiction rehabilitation service Kenward Trust, explained that she had seen an unprecedented number of young people at the trust: “We have many people under 30, some are in their late teens and sadly ketamine is one of the key drugs they are becoming addicted to.”
Sandra Larmour, who lost her daughter Jeni to ketamine in 2020, called for the reclassification to be “urgently approved”.
In November, senior coroner Alison Mutch wrote to the Government, urging it to upgrade ketamine’s classification following an inquest into a 38-year-old’s death. She argued that its Class B status gives a “false impression” of its dangers.
Over 600 children in Scotland lost a parent to drugs in one year