Ketamine dangers

Lockwood, Brad. Ketamine Dangerous Hallucinogen. New York Rosen, 2006. 

Ketamine markedly increases cerebral blood flow, oxygen consumption, and intracranial pressure. Similar to the volatile anesthetics, ketamine is a potentially dangerous drug when intracranial pressure is elevated. Although ketamine decreases the respiratory rate, upper airway muscle tone is well maintained and airway reflexes are usually preserved. 

Taking ketamine by injection is dangerous. The risks of accidental death or permanent injury from overdose by injection are greater than with any other method. 

Ketamine is not a tranquilizer for horses or any other animal. Ketamine is a surgical anesthetic. It is still in standard use on children and the very old because of its wide safety margin when used by professionals in clinical settings. Any drug that renders its user unconscious carries with it dangers that should not be trivialized. 

Some of ketamine s dangers are behavioral. Many users say that in low doses ketamine acts as an aphrodisiac and that it lowers sexual inhibitions. In the age of HIV and AIDS, the use of ketamine in sexual situations can lead to uncharacteristic recklessness. 

On its own, ketamine toxicity is less of a concern than accidents caused by the intensity of the dissociative state and loss of muscle coordination and control. However, given that ketamine is frequently taken with other drugs such as alcohol or ecstasy, clinical reports on the dangers of its recreational use are probably inadequate. 

The belladonna alkaloids are much more toxic than the indoles and phenethylamines. Furthermore, they are just plain dangerous, and the experiences they give are, at best, difficult to integrate with ordinary consciousness. Kava-kava seems to me more like alcohol than like the psychedelics, as does nitrous oxide, a general anesthetic with similar depressant qualities. PCP and ketamine are pharmacological curiosities, not related to other recreational drugs. Many users like the "dissociative" states they provide, but few find them truly psychedelic. Their toxicity and abuse potential are significant. 

Death due to the use or misuse of ketamine is rare. Only severe overdoses present substantial risk, and such incidents are usually treated in the intensive-care unit. The most dangerous effects of ketamine are behavioral. Individuals may become withdrawn, paranoid, and very uncoordinated. Physicians can only treat overdoses of this type symptomatically, by offering calm reassurance and an environment with little stimulation. 

Ketamine is a potent analgesic-anesthetic that is also effective intramuscularly. One particular property, production of cardiovascular stimulation, is of special advantage in elderly patients and those in shock (e.g., from bums). However, its propensity to precipitate hallucinations, delirium, disorientation, and other perceptual illusions postoperatively in about 12% of patients has led to its infrequent use in the United States. Ketamine s close structural analogy to the notorious and dangerous hallucinogen, phencyclidine (PCP, angel dust ), should be noted. This drug, which was first also introduced as an... 

Liquid ketamine is often put into drinks or injected into muscles, never a vein. Injecting the drug is dangerous. If... 

Some people claim that ketamine makes colors seem brighter and sounds more vivid. Even a small dose of ketamine can increase the heart rate to a dangerous level. 

At higher doses, the drug slows a person s breathing and acts as a depressant. This can be extremely dangerous when ketamine is combined with other depressant... 

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