Ketamine is a general anaesthetic normally used on animals as a painkiller, but which also has hallucinogenic qualities.
Common street names for ketamine include ‘K’ and ‘Ket’, but you might know it as something else depending on where you live.
Medical-use ketamine comes in liquid form, but the stuff that’s used illegally has been dried out and typically comes as white or off-white powder. In this form, it can look a bit like cocaine. Occasionally, you can get it as a tablet.
As a liquid (usually for medical use), it’s injected. The powder is snorted or wrapped in cigarette papers and swallowed (bombed).
In the UK, ketamine is a Class B drug. A sentence for possession comes with a maximum of five years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. Supply or production of the drug can result in a maximum of 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. However, local police forces will have their own approach to dealing with personal possession. Medical use is legal with a prescription.
As with all drugs, its effects depend on how much you’ve taken, how you’re feeling at the time, if you’ve taken any other drugs, etc.
When snorted, the effects will start within five to ten minutes with a speedy rush-like feeling, and last between one and two hours. With small amounts, people report feeling dreamy, as if they’re having an out-of-body experience. With larger amounts, the effects become stronger and can turn into a full-blown hallucinogenic trip, sometimes known as a K-hole. You might find it difficult to move your arms and legs, patterns may look like they’re moving, colours might shift and change and you might have a synesthetic experience where you feel like you ‘see’ music. Some users feel spiritually uplifted, others find it quite scary. Ketamine’s trippy effects can be more full-on than LSD or magic mushrooms.