The Ketamine Trap

Should you ask a young person at a party or festival about their drug use, you’ll likely receive a response along the lines of ‘it’s just ket’. Ketamine is a dissociative drug, cheap to purchase, easy to order from a phone, and significantly without the obvious usage markers that tip off parents or teachers about its use. For many teenagers and young adults, ketamine is viewed as harmless social succour. The truth is that ketamine is a powerful drug, with a high addiction liability.

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are critical phases of brain development. Executive control functions in the prefrontal cortex continue maturing into the mid-twenties, while the brain’s reward circuitry remains especially sensitive to novelty and social reinforcement. In other words, the craving for new experiences often outpaces the capacity to weigh up risks, and young people may not yet have had the life experience needed to fully grasp the consequences of decisions. 

Research has demonstrated that this developmental gap is amplified in groups, with studies showing the presence of peers increases risk-taking in adolescents by heightening attention to immediate rewards over potential losses. Add to this the tendency for young people to believe bad outcomes happen to others and you have a recipe for normalising ketamine use in friendship groups. 

Social bonding

There are several reasons why ketamine appeals to young people. It takes effect quickly, bringing feelings of euphoria, disinhibition and detachment within a short time. The intensity of these effects can be adjusted by how much is taken, ranging from a mild lift to a dissociative state. Ketamine’s psychotropic profile aligns with what young people are drawn to – novelty, intensity of experience, social bonding and altered consciousness. Furthermore, its rapid effect on mood also helps explain why some turn to it as a way of easing anxiety in social situations. Unlike many other drugs, ketamine rarely leaves users with immediate after-effects. 

However whilst ketamine does not cause the physical withdrawal seen with some substances, psychological symptoms such as low mood, anxiety and cravings are well documented, and these can drive repeated use.

Ketamine is relatively cheap per session, and it is easily shared among friends. Government data shows that its use is highest among 16-24-year-olds. Crucially, these young people no longer need to know someone ‘dodgy’ to get hold of it. Social media platforms, especially messaging apps, have made access quick and straightforward. In fact, European monitoring has found easy, fast access to dealers, discovered through slang searches and recommendation features. Ketamine appears in the same social media feeds as jokes and everyday chats between friends, blurring the line between social life and drug supply, and further normalising its presence in the digitally connected lives of teens and young adults.

Psychological Impact

Many professionals fear that the full psychological impact has yet to be seen, however, and is likely to escalate in both severity and complexity. Concerns already raised include disrupted education and its impact on life prospects, difficulties in forming intimate relationships, challenges around family planning, and the psychological burden of emerging research – such as whether ketamine misuse may eventually be linked to diseases such as bladder or kidney cancer. This raises troubling questions – do such harms contribute to further ketamine use, or even extend to polysubstance misuse in those already struggling with its consequences?

So why are young people being caught in the ketamine trap? Put the pieces together and a coherent picture emerges. Teens and young adults are especially drawn toward social and sensory rewards, and ketamine delivers both. Within friendship groups, its use takes on a social dimension that normalises and encourages dose escalation, which is reinforced by the shared belief that nothing bad will happen. Supply chains are highly accessible, easy to navigate, and frequently promoted through social media channels that are already embedded in young people’s daily lives. For those experiencing anxiety – a problem reported with increasing frequency among young people – ketamine can appear to offer an immediate, if deceptive, solution. 

The early warning signs of misuse are subtle as ketamine does not carry the visible after-effects and lengthy intoxication associated with other substances, allowing young people to believe that their use will go unnoticed. As a result, schools, parents, and health services are often unaware of the problem until physical damage and psychological dependence have already advanced. This combination of developmental vulnerability, social reinforcement, easy supply, and delayed detection creates the ideal conditions for young people to become trapped in their ketamine use.

Informed pathways

Drug and alcohol services are already adapting their approaches to support and treat people presenting with ketamine-related problems, recognising the distinct needs of this relatively new client group. More informed treatment pathways have begun to emerge, and health professionals now stress the importance of tailoring services so that young people can access the treatment they need with greater confidence. At this year’s DDN conference, Acorn Recovery Projects and Delphi Medical highlighted their solutions and shared their successes (DDN, September, page 10). These organisations are not alone. Across the sector, significant work is underway in response to what many are now describing as an epidemic among young people. 

What is becoming increasingly clear, however, is that these interventions come ‘after the fact’. Perhaps greater focus on targeting the setting, not just the substance, will help teens and young adults connect with the dangers of ketamine in ways they are more likely to engage with. At a recent ketamine unity day organised by Ketamine Education Services – an initiative founded by a former client of Acorn Recovery Projects – young peer educators suggested exactly this. They showed that young people respond best to plain English discussions about symptoms, combined with a clear message that stopping early can prevent considerable suffering. 

Commitment from a wide range of services, whether in education, the arts, sport, or healthcare, could help build on this by involving peer educators to lead conversations in ways that reflect young people’s social norms, and helping to shift attitudes without moralising. Should this happen alongside initiatives that expand access to support that relieves youth anxiety and confronts the reality of ketamine retail, then safer environments could be created for young people – where open conversation and early intervention reduce risk before lasting damage occurs.