(8%) Ketamine (Special K, Ket, Cat Tranquilizer)

                                    

Ketamine

Common Names: Ketamine, Special K, Cat Tranquilizer,

Chemical Name: 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)-cyclohexanone [EroK 2015]

Classifications: Hallucinogen, Psychedelic, Dissociative, Tranquilizer, Anesthetic, Analgesic

OUTLINE

(*C*) indicates a 90%+ Completed section
(SSS) indicates the section has been started
No prefix indicates the section hasn’t been started


-(SSS)Basic Introduction of the Drug
-Informs the reader of the general background of this drug, usually focusing on the current world
-(SSS)History of the Drug’s Use
-A brief guide to the history and use of the drug
-(SSS)Legal Status
-What is the legal availability of this drug?
-Testing your Drug and Handling your drug
-Doing an actual reagent test on your substance, taste testing, smell, sight, etc
-Ways to ensure the substance you have is the substance you want
-Handling  your drug without harming the contents or losing potency
-Method of Ingestion
-How is this drug safely consumed or ingested?
-Central (Desired) Effects, Side Effects. What are the dosages?
-How much of the drug is needed for consumption
-What are some of the desirable effects of the drug?
-What are some undesirable effects?
-Long Term effects
Are there lingering long-lasting side effects
-Mechanism of Action – How does this Drug work in the body? [Physical (Physiological) and Mental (Psychological) effects]
-What are some of the physiological effects on the body?
-How does the drug affect the brain?
-Which neurotransmitters are impacted?
-Recommended Uses and Doses (Varies by person)
-Suggestions for how the drug could be used
-Addiction, Withdrawal, Tolerance
-Addiction profile of the drug. Is it physically or mentally addictive?
-What are the withdrawal effects?
-How does the tolerance of the substance impact the usage?
-Drug Combinations with this Drug (Mixing Drugs, USE CAUTION!)
-When mixing drugs, which combinations are most dangerous with this drug
-Enjoyable Drug Combinations
-(SSS)Medicinal Uses
-What has this drug been found to be beneficial for medicinally?
-Detection in Biological Fluids (Drug Testing)
-How can this drug be best detected in the body? For how long?
-(SSS)Personal Experiences
-Personal experience I have on the drug
-Friendly Experiences
-Experiences that close friends of mine have had on the drug
-Other notable experiences
-Experiences that others may have had on the drug, i.e. Sasha Shulgin, Terrence McKenna
-Useful Facts
-Are there any extra fun or useful facts about the drug that seem to be missing?
-Sources and Bibliography (Comments on sources)
-Sources of information on the drug.

-Basic Introduction to Ketamine

Directly from America’s Drug Enforcement Agency Factsheet: “Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic with some hallucinogenic effect” [DEAKet xxxx].

And from Erowid.org, “Ketamine is a dissociative psychedelic used medically as a veterinary and human anesthetic. It is one of the few addictive psychedelics…” [EroK 2015].

For those unfamiliar with the terminology of dissociative, psychedelic, and hallucinogenic, please refer to the Classes of Drugs page for an explicit definition.

Perceptions of sight and sound are distorted, and the user may feel disconnected or not in control. Ketamine may induce a state of sedation, feeling calm, relief from pain, and amnesia. It is abused primarily for the ability to promote dissociative sensations and hallucinogens [DEAKet xxxx].

Ketamine is most often distributed in liquid or powder and occurs between friends at raves, nightclubs, and private parties. Caucasian males between 17 and 25 are the primary distributors of ketamine [IntKet 2004]. Produced commercially in a number of countries including Germany, China, and the United States, production of ketamine is a complex and time-consuming process making it impractical for a clandestine procedure. This is why most of the ketamine distributed in the United States is stolen or diverted from legitimate sources [IntKet 2004].

-History of Ketamine Usage

Ketamine has only been around since the 1960’s, where it was first synthesized by pharmacist Calvin Stevens in 1962 when attempting to find a useful PCP replacement [EroK 2015] [Keta xxxx]. Ketamine was used as a replacement for PCP since PCP would sometimes produce long lasting hallucinogenic effects upon recovery from anesthesia. Psychotic symptoms would sometimes ensue such as delusions, delirium, or psychosis [Keta xxxx]. Further information on PCP is available on the PCP page.

Ketamine was patented in Belgium in 1963 and was later found to be a useful anaesthetic in 1965. In the late 1960’s Ketamine was used as a field anesthetic by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Prescription Ketamine Hydrochloride was available under prescription under the name Ketalar in 1969 [EroK 2015].

In the 1970’s recreational and therapeutic usage of Ketamine had spread throughout the world. Ketamine has been popularized in the world by the publication of two books describing personal accounts of its usage. In 1981 the DEA filed official notice of its intent to place Ketamine in Schedule III, but chose not to since the “incidence of actual abuse was not sufficient to sustain the scheduling action.” However, in 1999 the DEA declared the intent to schedule Ketamine and on 12 August 1999 Ketamine becomes federally illegal in the U.S [EroK 2015].

-Method of Ingestion

Ketamine usually comes in clear liquid or white/off-white powder form, and so it can be ingested several ways. Liquid ketamine can be injected or swallowed. Powdered ketamine is most often a white powder and is usually ground finely into lines for insufflations [IntKet 2004][DEAKet xxxx]. Although possible, Erowid.org notes that ketamine is not often injected and more often snorted or insufflated [EroK 2015].

-Central and Side Effects (Dosing part 1)

The effects of ketamine vary greatly from individual to individual and are largely dosage dependent. Common effects include amnesia, agitation, paralysis, memorly loss, unconsciousness, nausea, and delirium. The onset is rapid and occurs within a few minutes of administration [IntKet 2004]. Furthermore from the “Drug Identification Bible” in 2001, intranasal ingestion, usually 10-60mg of pure ketamine can produce mild hallucinations and last for about 30 minutes. Dosing over 100mg can produce out-of-body, near death hallucinations; and terrors [IntKet 2004].

With this information, I ask myself why anyone would want to do a high dosage of ketamine if it just produces near death hallucinations and terrors? Is there some other attraction? Are the hallucinations very desirable at low doses? Further research is needed

The U.S. Department of Justice’s account of effect of ketamine seems to contrast the central effects stated by Erowid.org which goes into detail about more desirable effects of the drug. In the “Ketamine FAQ” section, low doses are reported to show mild inebriation, dreamy thinking, stumbling, clumsy, “robotic” movement, delayed sensations, increased sociability, and an interesting sense of seeing the world differently [EroK 2015]. At higher doses, a fragmentation of reality may occur. Users report a change in their environment or rapid spinning. Some users report themselves as feeling removed from their surroundings and their bodies. Some users describe the experience as “scary” [EroK 2015]

Get TKenna’s opinion on Ketamine

-Mechanism of Action [Physical (Physiological) and Mental (Psychological) effects]

-Sources

DEAKet xxxx

Drug Fact Sheet - Ketamine

http://www.dea.gov/druginfo/drug_data_sheets/Ketamine.pdf

Author: DEA

IntKet 2004

Intelligence Bulletin Ketamine

http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs10/10255/10255p.pdf

Author: US Department of Justice, Date Published: July 2004

EroK 2015

The Vaults of Erowid - Ketamine

https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ketamine/ketamine.shtml

Author: Erowid, Date Initially Published: 1996, Updated: 10 Feb 2015

Keta xxxx

History of Ketamine

http://ketamine.com/history-of-ketamine/