KETAMINE deaths are surging in Britain because people are using it as a cheap mixer for drug cocktails, warn scientists.
The drug’s popularity has boomed and famous overdose victims include Friends star Matthew Perry and TV drag queen The Vivienne.
Ketamine is being mixed with other drugs, such as painkillers[/caption]
A study by King’s College London estimated 123 people died from taking the drug in 2024, compared to just six people in 2014.
There were 696 deaths recorded by coroners during the 25 years between 1999 and 2024, with nearly a fifth of them in the most recent year alone.
Experts reckon ket, or K, is contributing to overdoses because it is cheap, with a gram being sold for as little as £15 compared to £80 for cocaine.
Users mix it with other drugs, such as super-strong painkillers, and lose track of how much they have taken.
Study author Dr Caroline Copeland said: “We are seeing more ketamine-related deaths but these deaths rarely involve ketamine alone.
“They are increasingly part of complex polydrug use patterns.”
Dr Copeland said it is used now by hardened addicts as well as young people at parties.
Friends star Matthew Perry’s death in 2023 was attributed to ketamine overdose[/caption]
Welsh drag queen The Vivienne, real name James Lee Williams, died in January 2025 due to a ketamine overdose[/caption]
The NHS opened England’s first dedicated ketamine clinic for young people in Liverpool this year.
Regular use can cause mental health problems and damage the bladder and kidneys.
Dr Copeland found overdose victims often mixed it with cocaine, opioids such as heroin or codeine, benzodiazepine sedatives, or gabapentinoid painkillers.
Nine out of 10 deaths were ruled to be accidental.
She said there should be a better drug treatment system and more education about the risks of mixing substances.
Ministers are considering reclassifying ketamine from Class B to Class A.
Dr Copeland added: “Single-drug policies such as reclassification are unlikely to tackle the real drivers of harm.
“To reduce deaths, we need harm reduction, treatment, and social support strategies that reflect the realities of polydrug use.”
What is ketamine and can it treat depression?
Ketamine is a general anaesthetic and illegal class B drug.
When a person takes ketamine recreationally, it reduces sensations in their body which can make them feel dream-like and detached, chilled, relaxed and happy, according to the UK national anti-drug advisory service Frank.
It can also cause a person to feel confused, nauseated, alter perception of space and cause hallucinations. If too much is taken it can cause a person to lose the ability to move their body, called a ‘K-hole’.
Ketamine is also a medication that doctors use as an anaesthetic to induce loss of consciousness, such as to help with physical pain.
Does it work for depression?
The Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust says that ketamine’s brief rapid antidepressant effect has been confirmed in several clinical trials over the last 20 years.
It has been the subject of numerous studies exploring its efficacy against severe depression which is not responding to treatment.
Some of the first findings were that of study in 2000, published in Biological Psychiatry. It showed that one singular intravenous dose of ketamine could produce rapid effects within one hour that would last up to a week.
Further studies made the same conclusions, but research was needed to look at whether it can be used more long-term.
A study in 2010, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, found repeated doses could sustain the antidepressant effect over a long period, but the benefits stopped after treatment did.
There are still significant gaps in knowledge about dosage levels, treatment protocols and safety of long term use.
Is it available on the NHS?
Ketamine has not been licensed for use as an antidepressant in the UK.
The Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust website says it can be used as an “off-label” treatment for depression, which is when a doctor prescribes a drug for other purposes than intended.
It adds that ketamine therapy can be given to people who have depression which has not responded to other treatments.
The health trust provides a self-pay ketamine treatment service after suitability is agreed following a referral letter from a GP or psychiatrist.
Patients are then given a series of intravenous ketamine infusions, with the average duration of initial benefit 10 days, according to the trust’s website.
Oral ketamine, supplied as a liquid which can be taken at home, can help maintain the benefit of infusions.
A closely related version, nasal esketamine, is licensed but has not been approved for routine NHS use, mainly because of cost – £480 per dose.
