Why are so many people taking ketamine, the drug that killed Matthew Perry?
Recreational use of the drug that killed Matthew Perry is at an all-time high in Australia despite the alarming side effects it can cause.
Matthew Perry’s doctor has pleaded guilty to supplying the actor with the ketamine that killed him.
It’s been revealed Elon Musk took ketamine daily on Donald Trump’s election campaign trail last year.
And The Vivienne died this year following an addiction to the drug. The UK Drag Race contestant’s family this week set up a support group for those struggling with it.
Suddenly, ketamine use seems to have surged – and in Australia, that’s certainly true. Data released in November indicates recreational ketamine use is at an all-time high in this country.
In the UK, it has risen by 85 per cent in the past year alone.
Yet, the same drug that’s addicting, damaging and killing recreational users globally is also showing promising signs when prescribed to Australia’s chronically ill and depression sufferers.
So what’s the deal with this drug?
Festival-goers bringing walking frames
Certainly, for some attending a music festival in Victoria this year, ketamine, also known as “k”, was on the menu, in a very disturbing way.
A harm reduction group working with users has reported instances of young people bringing Zimmer frame walkers meant for use as mobility aids for elderly people to the festival to manage some of the more extreme side effects of Ketamine. These can include becoming so dazed, confused and disorientated that you struggle to walk and talk.
And those are just some of the harms and side effects. There is also liver damage, cognitive impairment, psychological dependence, long-term functional impairment, dissociation and related accidents and risk of overdose.
Gemma,* 41, from Sydney is a ketamine user.
She pays up to $250 for a bag, containing powder that she snorts, but says it’s less easily available than other recreational drugs.
There is, however, a much darker side, and it can most commonly be summed up by two words: ketamine bladder.
Some recreational users become addicted and use so much ketamine, in some extreme cases, their bladder needs to be cut out.
Young people wearing adult nappies, having bladders removed
“Ketamine makes the bladder contract, so it holds far less fluid,” Dr Catherine Carney, a treating psychiatrist from the Delamere Rehab Clinic, says. “Some young k addicts are getting up 10 times a night to urinate. Others wear adult nappies because they’ve become incontinent.”
Milder symptoms are, Dr Carney says, reversible if ketamine use stops. But for heavier users, the bladder becomes so painful, ketamine becomes more addictive due to its anaesthetic power.
In addition, she adds that long term use damages the liver and short term use can cause accidents due to the k-hole.
‘Is that a thing?’
When news.com.au explained the risk of ketamine bladder to Gemma*, she responds: “Oh, is that a thing?”
After pondering that she’d be “urinating through a catheter bag by the time she’s 55,” she adds: “I probably won’t live that long anyway.”
“I think most people were surprised I made 30 let alone 40, but I think that’s definitely attributed to my excessive drug use at periods throughout my life,” she says.
Don’t mix with depressives
According to harm reduction charity The Loop chief executive Cameron Francis, ketamine use has been rising in Australia for some time. He warns of mixing ketamine with alcohol or other depressants, which can increase risk of injury.
“People need access to accurate, non-judgemental information, and services like drug checking that can help them stay safer,” he says.
* Name changed
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Gary Nunn is a freelance journalist. Instagram: @garynunn11
Originally published as Why are so many people taking ketamine, the drug that killed Matthew Perry?
