Other Names: special K, vitamin K, Ket,techno smack

That's that horse tranquiliser shit, isn't it?

Sort of. Ketamine is an anaesthetic used by vets - but it's also used in medicine for children and old people. It's now becoming popular on the club scene and is sometimes found in pills sold as Ecstasy so you may well have encountered it already.

Why would anyone take horse tranquliser, then?

K-heads report that a mild hit gives them a speedy, euphoric trance-like rush and makes music and light more intense - a bit like an E. Double dropping/higher doses/injecting sends you to the 'K-hole' with accompanying sensations of being out of your body looking in, near-death experiences, feelings of deep peace, flying, or communicating with cosmic forces.

The bizarre effects are unpredictable and intense and depend how you take it. At low doses it's a strange mild stimulant while at higher doses it's more like a paralysing psychadelic. Some people say they get mind-expanding perceptions and that K is a life-changing spiritual experience. Others are just terrified.

Suffice to say K is not a sociable drug. At least it's over fast though (within 90 minutes) so if you're not enjoying it you don't face eight hours of horror like on bad LSD trips.

That sounds cool - I wanna try some…

Are you sure? Better fasten your seatbelt then, 'cause you could be in for a very rough ride. Ketamine can make your brain think it's no longer part of your body - like, whoah ! But you may be so out of it you forget that you've taken a drug, so the sensations of being out of your body looking in, having just died, or on another planet may seem real, which can be dead scary.

Taking too much can knock you out and leave you unable to move. Like, at all. And anything could happen - fire, assault, injury, vomiting, whatever - and you'd be unable to do a damn thing about it till you stopped tripping - which can be a tad inconvenient if your sofa is burning up. Overdose can cause breathing problems and heart failure.

Clubbing on K is best avoided - unco-ordinated limbs, slurred speech, mumbling shit, vomiting and coming across like a total spacecake is SO not a good look. Afterwards you may feel that groggy, wiped-out post-op feeling (it is an anaesthetic, after all) and have short-term memory loss.

The long-term effects are unknown but research suggests brain damage may be one of them (all the more reason to check what's in those beanies before you neck 'em) Some people get really into K & end up with Ketamine psychosis - a charming schizophrenia-like syndrome which can send them to the loony bin quicker than you can say "told you so…"

Never mind all that, I'm going to try some anyway…

Ok, then at least do the following:

• Take it somewhere safe (i.e not a noisy club) with people you trust, one of whom is a drug-free 'ground control' and can babysit you if you have a bad experience/get into trouble (but then you owe them one).
• Start with a small dose - always assume it's really pure/strong & can floor you - you won't know for sure till you try it.
• Snort rather than inject or pill it as the effects are faster/more controllable. If you inject it can wipe you out so fast you're unconscious before you've even taken the needle out.
• Do it on an empty stomach as it can cause major vomiting (eww…) & do not mix with other drugs, particularly alcohol & other downers like Valium as this can cause heart failure.
• If you & your mates are all planning on doing a high dose, extinguish all fags/candles/lava lamps as if there were a fire and you were all in K-hole paralysis then…let's not go there.
• Finally, if you're epileptic or have mental health problems leave Ketamine out altogether.