Drug: What is ketamine, whose party use is spreading and causing serious harm ?

Drogue : qu’est-ce que la kétamine, dont l’usage festif se répand ?

Selon le rapport de l’Observatoire français des drogues et des tendances addictives (OFDT) qui vient de paraître, l’usage de la kétamine, un anesthésique détourné comme drogue récréative, gagne du terrain. Mais cette substance cause de graves dommages parfois irréversibles.

For twenty-five years, the OFDT's Recent Trends and New Drugs (TREND) system has been analyzing drug consumption. Observations for the year 2023 highlight the growing use of ketamine for party use. This illicit substance now affects more diverse and numerous audiences than before. With, as a result, more and more reports of health complications linked to chronic use.

2.6% of 18 to 64 year-olds report having already used it during their life.

What is ketamine ?

Ketamine works by blocking certain receptors in the brain, particularly NMDA receptors, which leads to altered perception of pain, dissociation of the mind from the body, and a state of temporary amnesia.

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Due to its psychoactive effects, it was quickly diverted from its medical use to recreational uses. It is used for its effects of dissociation (altered perception of the body or the outside world), euphoria and out-of-body (the feeling of being detached from one's own body). At higher doses, it can cause intense experiences called “k-holes” (partial or total loss of consciousness).

No longer perceived as a “drug apart”

Practices around this substance have changed profoundly over the last ten years. It is now consumed by a diverse socio-demographic population, reports the OFDT, in various festive contexts such as festivals, club nights or at home.

Still according to the OFDT, recent data reveal an increase in chronic use of ketamine in order to relieve psychological suffering, such as anxiety or depression, or physical pain (periods, back pain, endometriosis, etc.).

What are the risks ?

Chronic use of ketamine, repeated over several months or years, has serious health consequences, according to Drogues-info-service. These include severe urinary tract diseases, which can become irreversible if not treated early. Intense abdominal pain, known as “K-pain” or “K-cramps”, is also common. These cramps, ranging from simple abdominal pain to very painful colic, generally disappear after stopping use.

Chronic use at high doses can also cause kidney failure, which is sometimes irreversible, as well as serious liver damage. Finally, memory disorders, affecting both the short and long term, can occur, most often reversible after stopping ketamine.

Urologic disorders

Urologic disorders caused by chronic ketamine use after only a few months can be serious, to the point that the French Association of Urology published specific recommendations in October 2024. A study revealed that these disorders include intense suprapubic pain in 60% of patients, very frequent urination (up to 50 per day) in 77% of cases, as well as urgent and intense urges to urinate in 70% of subjects. Other urinary dysfunctions are common, such as pain when urinating, urinary incontinence, and, in 30% of cases, partial or total obstruction of urinary flow, and kidney damage.

Urinary disorders can be reversible in 50 to 85% of cases, according to studies. But sometimes, reconstructive surgery is even necessary.