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Coaster
Baʿal



Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 12 years, 3 months
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Ketamine Use On The Rise Now That Mephredrone is Illegal
#14382382 - 05/01/11 12:30 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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UKAddiction charities are reporting a sharp rise in the number of young people who say they are worried about their use of ketamine.
Addaction, one of the UK's largest charities helping people with drug problems, says it has seen a 68% increase in the last year in the number of inquiries from teenagers using ketamine, up from 151 to 254.
 The charity believes a surge in the drug's popularity is down to people switching from mephedrone after it was made illegal in April last year. Laurie Yearley, who works with young people at an Addaction clinic in Buckinghamshire, said that last year he was seeing two or three people a week using ketamine as a "secondary drug". He is now seeing six or seven a week for whom it is their main drug.
"People started using ketamine because it was cheap, but then they went on to mephedrone, which was legal," Yearley said. "But when mephedrone was made illegal they went back to ketamine because they said it was like a milder form of mephedrone, which has pretty harsh side effects."
Yearley said price was a major reason for ketamine's popularity. "It can cost as little as £6 a gram. If you split it between four people, that's less than a pint. Because it's class C – less than cannabis – there's a feeling among young people that it can't be that bad."
But Yearley said he was concerned that heavy ketamine users were trebling or even quadrupling their intake in barely a week to achieve the same effects. "A lot of youngsters are snorting the drug because they think they are down there with the big boys who are doing coke. Part of it is an image thing. But if you start using it a bit on Monday and on Tuesday, your tolerance disappears quickly and by Thursday you need to spend £10 to get the same effect and the following week it's £20."
An anaesthetic that was used in Vietnam to sedate wounded troops, ketamine is still used to anaesthetise children. It is also used in veterinary circles as a horse anaesthetic.
The drug is also a hallucinogen with users drawn to its "disassociative effects". Many claim it can give them a feeling of being detached from their bodies. But as it is an anaesthetic, experts warn it is dangerous when mixed with depressants, such as alcohol, combining to slow or shut down the central nervous system.
Health workers report that users experience a range of physical side-effects including blood in their urine, as the drug crystallises in their bladders. Users also refer to "K-Cramps", described as "terrible period pains", and to terrifying comedowns.
Harry Shapiro, of Drugscope, said he was aware that agencies were reporting increased numbers of young people coming forward to say they were experiencing problems with the drug.
"Ketamine was considered a party drug because it emerged in the 90s, but it's not really when you consider the effects. Accounts suggest it's anything but a benign drug, with physical and psychological impacts. It's an anaesthetic, and people have had accidents while under its effect and not realised they were injured."
Experts suggest it is too soon to confirm whether claims that its use is on the increase among young people indicate the start of a trend.
According to the British Crime Survey, in 2007, 0.3% of 16-to 24-year-olds used ketamine within the last month, compared with 0.9% last year. But these numbers are extremely low and not considered statistically significant by experts.
However, Yearley said it was definitely the case more youngsters were doing it. "I'd say it was split down the middle in terms of use, but young girls seemed to get messed up more on it," he said.
Jane, who is 19 and has sought help from Addaction, said she was doing six or seven grams a day at one stage. "It's like mentally addictive when you've done it for some time; life is not normal unless you've sniffed a line of K."
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Coaster
Baʿal



Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
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Re: Ketamine Use On The Rise Now That Mephredrone is Illegal [Re: Coaster]
#14382409 - 05/01/11 12:35 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
tomkun said: my brother's addicted to K. He has been for years. I'm very worried about him but there's nothing I can do to help him. He's a stubborn bastard.
I'd like to know what the effects of long term use are.
I have friends who also stubbornly used it daily for many years. The long-term effects during its use are not positive, tho' dependent on the individual.
I know of paranoia, lethargy, indifference, confusion and disorder. Also a more drawn-out, or worn-out, face. None of which seem to be permanent, nor are they particularly extreme. But clearly over many years of daily use your life will not quite reach its full potential.
Users also become obsessed about the routine surrounding their Ketamine: the procurement, the cooking and preparing, the storing etc. This life becomes a very comfortable circle and it's not easy to kick yourself out of it.
I do know some friends who did permanently quit and are now happier, healthier people. I'm not aware of any long-term permanent effects for users who have quit daily use.
And just to clarify how I define long-term use: more than 2 lines per day every day going back more than 2 years.
Most other users will have used it only on weekends, and then only snorting small bumps piled on a coin, or at least short thin lines rather than big fat lines. After a couple of years raving most then just stop taking it. Other people use it occasionally to experiment psychedelically, they may snort huge lines to get into that special place they are looking for, but generally such trippers are not regular users, keeping such experiments to just a few times per year.
Such recreational use I would suggest is fine, as long as you are responsible (the tragic case of the young girl who took a bath while, allegedly, drifting into a K-hole is a case in point).
But daily use, over years, will only dominate and not in a good way.
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5-HT2A
Registered: 01/30/10 
Posts: 1,794
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Re: Ketamine Use On The Rise Now That Mephredrone is Illegal [Re: Coaster]
#14383343 - 05/01/11 03:50 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
because they said it was like a milder form of mephedrone,
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Synth Ethics
substitution


Registered: 05/18/09
Posts: 5,525
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Re: Ketamine Use On The Rise Now That Mephredrone is Illegal [Re: Coaster]
#14383557 - 05/01/11 04:28 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Coaster said: UK But if you start using it a bit on Monday and on Tuesday, your tolerance disappears quickly and by Thursday you need to spend £10 to get the same effect and the following week it's £20."
dude hace it backward
Quote:
Ketamine was considered a party drug because it emerged in the 90s,
never knew the 90's were THAT great loll
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egodeathflux
Guttersnipe



Registered: 02/02/10
Posts: 3,854
Loc: The Stygian Pits
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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Re: Ketamine Use On The Rise Now That Mephredrone is Illegal [Re: Synth Ethics]
#14383676 - 05/01/11 04:53 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Killed my best friend. Put my girlfriend in the burns unit of the hospital for 2 months. Nasty shit. Makes you lose control of your bladder eventually, my friend pissed himself a few times.
Find a better drug.    
-------------------- "Atrophic interludes weave through my life far too often, for me to fight the biggest enemies" "Standing on the corner of 5th and Vermouth"
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Coaster
Baʿal



Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 12 years, 3 months
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Re: Ketamine Use On The Rise Now That Mephredrone is Illegal [Re: egodeathflux] 1
#14383708 - 05/01/11 04:57 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
egodeathflux said: Killed my best friend. Put my girlfriend in the burns unit of the hospital for 2 months. Nasty shit. Makes you lose control of your bladder eventually, my friend pissed himself a few times.
Find a better drug.     
YOUR DOING IT WRONG
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Cyclohexylamine
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out



Registered: 09/08/10
Posts: 14,327
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Re: Ketamine Use On The Rise Now That Mephredrone is Illegal [Re: Coaster]
#14384146 - 05/01/11 06:17 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Coaster said:
Quote:
egodeathflux said: Killed my best friend. Put my girlfriend in the burns unit of the hospital for 2 months. Nasty shit. Makes you lose control of your bladder eventually, my friend pissed himself a few times.
Find a better drug.     
YOUR DOING IT WRONG 


-------------------- Yes this is tymo - I just changed my name Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between that dream world and the real world? There is NOTHING better than feeling that warm dissociative fuzz creeping up your body from IM K Something abut that anaesthetic rush... Qualitative Research Chemical Effects and Experiences The Wonderful World of Methoxetamine The 3-Meo-PCP Chapters, Part One
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