#1
Misconceptions
Ketamine is a fairly new drug for most people. Psychonauts have used it since the late 60s -
even before it was officially released - but it didn't hit the club scene until the early 90s, when
K gained popularity in the USA, mainly in the big cities, and particularly in the gay scene. In the
mid-90s it had arrived in London, and since then it's progressed slowly towards the European
mainland.
Since it's such a 'new' drug, there are quite a few misconceptions about the drug. The 2
most common misconceptions about ketamine are the idea that it's a drug used only on
animals, and the idea that it's a downer, as it makes you feel drowsy.
To start with the latter: ketamine is in fact an upper. It's a dissociative anesthetic - it
disconnects the brain from the senses, such that one doesn't hear, feel, smell etc - but it
makes the body work faster: the heart rate goes up, as does the blood pressure. More about
this later.
The biggest misconception about K is that people think of ketamine as a drug to tranquilize
elephants and horses. Although it's often used by vets, ketamine has been widely used on
humans for over 3 decades.
Anesthetic
In the late 50s scientists had tried PCP (phenyl cyclohexyl piperidine) as an anesthetic, but that
drug caused too many hallucinations, confusion and delirium in people, that one started
looking for new drugs. Ketamine was developed as a PCP derivative in the early 60s and was
patented in 1962. The drug was tested on animals, and out of the 200 PCP derivatives it
turned out to be the most promising anesthetic. In 1965 ketamine trials on humans started, and
in 1970 it was officially released for medical purposes.
There's an important difference between ketamine and most other anesthetics. Ketamine is
what one calls a dissociative anesthetic. What this means is: it disconnects the brains from the
senses. It does so by blocking the brain from receiving signals from the rest of the body. These
signals include vision, hearing, and most importantly: pain. If there's enough ketamine in the
body, one doesn't feel pain; just what one expects from an anesthetic.
To explain this difference I'll use an analogy. Let's say a human body is a radio: the senses
are an antenna, the brain is the loudspeaker, and pain is caused by a radio signal from a radio
station. During an operation the antenna (the senses) receive radio signals (senses of pain)
and send them through to the loudspeakers, where they are translated into music (pain).
Barbiturates - the most common group of anesthetics - sedate the body. In my analogy this
means: you simply turn down the volume of the radio, to such an extent that one doesn't hear
the music anymore; the pain is gone. Ketamine works differently: the radio is left at its normal
volume, and instead one disconnects the antenna from the loudspeakers. Now the radio can
NOT receive signals from the station anymore, and the music is gone (in fact it's replaced by
noise: more on this later): the pain is gone.
This difference gives ketamine a major advantage over other anesthetics. Sedatives like
barbiturates slow down most processes in the body (= turning down the volume). The obvious
danger of this is that some processes stop working altogether - the body stops and the person
could die. Ketamine on the other hand is an upper: some of the main processes of the body
(like the blood flow, breathing) intensify: one breathes faster, the heart pumps faster, etc.
The advantage is that ketamine can be used on people with breathing problems, heart
problems, children, elderly people, in fact everybody with a weak state of health. It also means
that ketamine can be administered by anybody without much danger - one doesn't have to
worry about sedating the person too much. This made the drug very popular in wars. In the
Vietnam war it was known as a "buddy drug", a drug that could be administered immediately
on the battlefield, without having to wait for a doctor. In most wars - even the recent war in
Afghanistan - the drug was used for this purpose. In third world countries, where medical
knowledge is often limited, this relatively safe drug is widely used too.
For a more detailed and scientific description of the chemistry, medical usage, doses, and
much more of ketamine, click on the link to the Metro Health Anesthesia page on the left, or
read Karl Jansen's book.
Ketamine is a fairly new drug for most people. Psychonauts have used it since the late 60s -
even before it was officially released - but it didn't hit the club scene until the early 90s, when
K gained popularity in the USA, mainly in the big cities, and particularly in the gay scene. In the
mid-90s it had arrived in London, and since then it's progressed slowly towards the European
mainland.
Since it's such a 'new' drug, there are quite a few misconceptions about the drug. The 2
most common misconceptions about ketamine are the idea that it's a drug used only on
animals, and the idea that it's a downer, as it makes you feel drowsy.
To start with the latter: ketamine is in fact an upper. It's a dissociative anesthetic - it
disconnects the brain from the senses, such that one doesn't hear, feel, smell etc - but it
makes the body work faster: the heart rate goes up, as does the blood pressure. More about
this later.
The biggest misconception about K is that people think of ketamine as a drug to tranquilize
elephants and horses. Although it's often used by vets, ketamine has been widely used on
humans for over 3 decades.
Anesthetic
In the late 50s scientists had tried PCP (phenyl cyclohexyl piperidine) as an anesthetic, but that
drug caused too many hallucinations, confusion and delirium in people, that one started
looking for new drugs. Ketamine was developed as a PCP derivative in the early 60s and was
patented in 1962. The drug was tested on animals, and out of the 200 PCP derivatives it
turned out to be the most promising anesthetic. In 1965 ketamine trials on humans started, and
in 1970 it was officially released for medical purposes.
There's an important difference between ketamine and most other anesthetics. Ketamine is
what one calls a dissociative anesthetic. What this means is: it disconnects the brains from the
senses. It does so by blocking the brain from receiving signals from the rest of the body. These
signals include vision, hearing, and most importantly: pain. If there's enough ketamine in the
body, one doesn't feel pain; just what one expects from an anesthetic.
To explain this difference I'll use an analogy. Let's say a human body is a radio: the senses
are an antenna, the brain is the loudspeaker, and pain is caused by a radio signal from a radio
station. During an operation the antenna (the senses) receive radio signals (senses of pain)
and send them through to the loudspeakers, where they are translated into music (pain).
Barbiturates - the most common group of anesthetics - sedate the body. In my analogy this
means: you simply turn down the volume of the radio, to such an extent that one doesn't hear
the music anymore; the pain is gone. Ketamine works differently: the radio is left at its normal
volume, and instead one disconnects the antenna from the loudspeakers. Now the radio can
NOT receive signals from the station anymore, and the music is gone (in fact it's replaced by
noise: more on this later): the pain is gone.
This difference gives ketamine a major advantage over other anesthetics. Sedatives like
barbiturates slow down most processes in the body (= turning down the volume). The obvious
danger of this is that some processes stop working altogether - the body stops and the person
could die. Ketamine on the other hand is an upper: some of the main processes of the body
(like the blood flow, breathing) intensify: one breathes faster, the heart pumps faster, etc.
The advantage is that ketamine can be used on people with breathing problems, heart
problems, children, elderly people, in fact everybody with a weak state of health. It also means
that ketamine can be administered by anybody without much danger - one doesn't have to
worry about sedating the person too much. This made the drug very popular in wars. In the
Vietnam war it was known as a "buddy drug", a drug that could be administered immediately
on the battlefield, without having to wait for a doctor. In most wars - even the recent war in
Afghanistan - the drug was used for this purpose. In third world countries, where medical
knowledge is often limited, this relatively safe drug is widely used too.
For a more detailed and scientific description of the chemistry, medical usage, doses, and
much more of ketamine, click on the link to the Metro Health Anesthesia page on the left, or
read Karl Jansen's book.