Ketamine hydrochloride, commonly marketed in the pharmacy world as Ketanest and Ketalar, has an interesting history. Early use of ketamine by the USA began during the Vietnam War where it was used on soldiers as an anesthetic during surgery or outpatient repair and care. It was used prior to that by veterinarians treating large animals such as horses and cattle and is also valuable in small animal surgery. Ketamine is still used today by many veterinarians. The use of ketamine on humans declined after the Vietnam War due to patient reports of traumatic out-of-body experiences associated with its use.

Some specialty medical practices such as podiatry (foot doctor) will use ketamine, as well as those performing minor outpatient surgeries. Ketamine has been popular in the area of migraines treatment too and incases involving children as that tend to report fewer negative responses than adults.

There is a wide array of drugs found amongst the ravers and dance-club crowds and ketamine certainly ranks high on their user list. This is why this is referred to as a club drug. There you will also find ketamine referred to as K, Special K (not even remotely associated with the breakfast cereal), Vitamin K (not a vitamin at all), Super C, Super Acid, Kit Kat (this is no chocolate bar), Jet, Honey Oil, Purple and Cat Valiums. The majority of illegal street ketamine is probably being diverted and sold from veterinarian offices, in many cases unknown to the vets themselves.

Ketamine was not always a controlled substance, but it did become so in August of 1999 when the addictive qualities and building abuse rates were being noticed. The hallucinogenic qualities of ketamine are very well known in the medical field with patients experiencing impaired thinking for hours at times. Other side effects include a distortion of sight and sound perception, poor coordination and judgment with episodes of feeling out of control, depression, amnesia, high blood pressure, blurred vision, dizziness, slurred speech, flashbacks, aggression, paranoia, muscle spasms and respiratory distress. It is easy to develop a tolerance for the drug causing the user to require more and more in order to obtain the same results they originally experienced.

Like the date rape drug, ketamine is sometimes used by less than ethical thinking individuals as a  way of taking advantage of another person, male or female, by lacing ketamine in drinks or by offering the drug to a newbie without explaining its true nature. A great many sexual assault cases result from episodes such as these, so please, do not leave your beverages on your table if you must leave, even for a moment, take them with you.

There are a few ways to absorb ketamine into the body. Some might add a powder to cigarettes or marijuana or they might soak the plant and dry it leaving a coating of the ketamine on the marijuana or tobacco and then smoke it, while others use the powder or liquid in drinks, injections, pill form or by snorting into the nostrils. Although it is a dangerous practice to mix or blend drugs, ketamine is sometimes used with ecstasy thinking that if one is good, two MUST be better. Better only if you mean a faster trip to the emergency room.

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