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Illegal use in UK seems to reflect growth of unregulated market in US, where its high-profile users include Elon Musk

Ketamine, the anaesthetic taken by Elon Musk to control his moods, could be reclassified as a class A drug by the Home Office after illegal use reached record levels.

The billionaire owner of X, who this week has been embroiled in a row over grooming gangs with Keir Starmer, has described using small amounts of ketamine “once every other week” to manage the “chemical tides” that cause depression.

Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, will write to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) asking whether its classification should be changed and “carefully consider” its findings.

Recent reports cited by the Home Office suggest the substance is often found in “pink cocaine”, a synthetic cocktail of drugs, as it announced the decision.

A coroner wrote to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, in November calling for action over the classification of the drug after a man’s death.

The Greater Manchester south senior coroner, Alison Mutch, found that James Boland, 38, from Manchester, had died of sepsis caused by a kidney infection that was “a complication of long-term use of ketamine”.

In a prevention of future deaths report, she said keeping ketamine as class B would be “likely to encourage others to start to use it or continue to use it under the false impression it is ‘safer”’.

Ketamine is licensed in the UK as an anaesthetic and for pain relief for short-term use but is not available on prescription on the NHS. A version of ketamine has a licence for use to halt depression.

There has been a dramatic increase in the use of the drug in the US, with the expansion of ketamine clinics and online services offering easy prescription access to the drug, as well as an unregulated market.

The Friends actor Matthew Perry died after taking a fatal overdose of ketamine in October 2023, his third injection of the day. After climbing into a hot tub, the comedian asked an associate to “shoot me up with a big one”, court documents said.

Doctors expressed concern in March after Musk, in an interview with the former CNN host Don Lemon, claimed that ketamine was helpful when trying to get out of a “negative frame of mind”.

Lemon asked Musk whether he ever “abuses” ketamine, which the billionaire said he is taking under a doctor’s supervision. Musk replied: “I don’t think so. If you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done, and I have a lot of work.”

Also known by the slang term Special K, the drug usually comes as a crystalline powder or liquid. Possession of a class B drug can mean up to five years in prison or up to 14 years for supply and production. A class A drug could mean up to seven years for possession and up to life in prison for supply and production.

In a statement, Johnson said: “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.

“It is vital we are responding to all the latest evidence and advice to ensure people’s safety and we will carefully consider the ACMD’s recommendations before making any decision.”

Currently controlled as a class B substance, ministers are seeking “expert advice” on reclassification after an estimated 299,000 people reported use of the drug in 2023.

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