Ketamine - Usage Trends

Usage Trends

Before the late 1980s, ketamine was not widely abused. Its use was not considered extensive enough to prompt action by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) until the 1990s.

The 2004 "Pulse Check" report released by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy stated that "young adults working independently are the primary dealers of ketamine,

A dancer holds a bottle of the designer drug ketamine, also known as Special K, at a rave in Baltimore, Maryland. Scott Houston/Corbis.
A dancer holds a bottle of the designer drug ketamine, also known as "Special K," at a rave in Baltimore, Maryland. © Scott Houston/Corbis.

which they obtain through burglaries of veterinary clinics." Since the late 1990s, vets have been urged to install burglar alarms in their offices and lock up their ketamine supplies. Closer monitoring of ketamine supplies has made it more difficult to obtain.

Club Drugs, Raves, and "Date Rape"

An increase in ketamine use occurred with the growth of the rave culture beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the typical American club drug user is between eighteen and twenty-five years old. Users in Australia and the United Kingdom are around the same age. This population dominates the club drug market and has made ecstasy and other so-called designer drugs some of the fastest-growing drugs of choice on the club circuit. (An entry on designer drugs is available in this encyclopedia.) Because of its unpleasant side effects, however, ketamine has never been as popular as ecstasy among rave attendees.

Like other club drugs such as GHB and Rohypnol, ketamine has been used as a "date-rape" drug. Liquid ketamine is "odorless and tasteless," warns the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, "so it can be added to beverages without being detected." In addition, it causes memory loss. Victims of ketamine-related sexual assaults may find it impossible to identify their attackers. (Entries on GHB and Rohypnol are also available in this encyclopedia.)

Supplies and Usage Begin to Decline

The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) tracks hospital emergency department (ED) visits caused by drug use. ED visits related to ketamine use have remained at low levels since 1998. The DAWN statistics published in mid-2005 reflected data from the last two quarters of 2003. During those six months, 73 ED visits were reported for ketamine poisoning. During 2002, the number for the full year was 260.

The decline in ketamine use in the United States is closely tied to its decreased availability. According to "Pulse Check" data from 2004, the source of the drug was cut significantly with "the arrest of a main supplier in Mexico." "Pulse Check" researchers estimate that 80 percent of the U.S. ketamine supply comes from Mexico through San Diego, California.

The results of the 2004 Monitoring the Future (MTF) study were released to the public on December 21, 2004. Conducted by the University of Michigan (U of M), it is sponsored by research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The authors of the study noted a considerable decrease in the annual use of ketamine by tenth graders. In 2003, 1.9 percent of tenth graders reported using ketamine in the last year. In 2004, annual usage had dropped to 1.3 percent.