Ketamine

• What is ketamine?
• Street Names
• How is it taken?
• What are the effects?
• What are the dangers?
• Is it addictive?

What is ketamine?

• Ketamine hydrochloride is an anesthetic (pain killer) that has been used for human and veterinary use (it numbs the body).
  
• It is also used as a date rape drug.

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Street Names

"Special K" and "K"
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How is it taken?

• Ketamine comes in tablet or powder form.
  
• It is snorted up the nose, placed in alcoholic drinks, or smoked in combination with marijuana.

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What are the effects?

• Ketamine has hallucinatory effects.
  
• The hallucinatory effects are short and last only an hour or less; however, it can affect the senses, judgment and coordination for 18 to 24 hours.
  
• Similar to LSD, the effects of Ketamine are altered according to the user's mood and environment.

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What are the dangers?

• Users can seriously hurt themselves, because Ketamine numbs the body and they will not feel the pain of an injury.
  
• Ketamine lowers heart rate, which can lead to oxygen deprivation in the muscles and brain, resulting in heart failure or brain damage.
  
• It is very dangerous when mixed with alcohol and other drugs.

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Is it addictive?

It is not considered an addictive drug like cocaine, heroin or alcohol because it does not produce the same compulsive drug-seeking behavior. However, like addictive drugs, it produces greater tolerance in some users who take the drug repeatedly. These users must take higher doses to achieve the same results as they have had in the past. This could be an extremely dangerous practice because of the unpredictability of the drug effect on an individual.

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