The deadly drug Ketamine is being taken by children during school hours as it’s been dubbed a ‘rite of passage’, warn experts.
Ketamine, known as ‘K’ or ‘Special K’, comes as a powder and is usually snorted.
It can lead to a relaxed and dream-like sensation, but taking too much can cause temporary paralysis. Longer-term use can lead to memory loss, mental health problems and organ damage.
Mark O’Hagan, 55, headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Crosby, Liverpool warned that for many young children, taking the Class A drug has become the new normal.
‘Six or seven years ago, we didn’t really know what ketamine was. Now, it’s in the common language of the children and for lots of children they do, unfortunately, see this as almost like a rite of passage. It’s seen as just a normal thing to do, to engage in this risk taking behaviour,’ he told the Echo.
He added that while the amount of drug use hasn’t changed, in the last few years the substance has—with ketamine being most common among young students.
But the long term effects of the killer drug has sparked a rise in young people struggling with urination and suffering with side effects like pain on peeing, or needing to pee more than usual, while some see blood in their urine.
Dr Verity Sullivan, 40, a sexual health consultant, told the Echo she has found school children are using ketamine in their lunch breaks: ‘People sometimes say, “yeah, I use a bit of ket now and again”. You realise that their ketamine use is pretty regular. Local schools have reported that teenagers are regularly using ketamine in their lunch breaks. It’s absolutely terrifying.’
While Merseyside’s police and crime commissioner Emily Spurrell warned of the serious health implications from using the drug.
‘What I think young people aren’t necessarily aware of is just how dangerous it is and the long-term health impacts it has, so we are seeing a worrying rise of young people with urinary tract infections and displaying all kinds of significant health issues.’
It comes as rocketing ketamine use among Gen Z-ers is being fuelled by TikTokers making light of the drug by posting videos of their friends experiencing its effects, experts have previously warned.
Social media users regularly make light of its impacts – with a trend for videos showing users in ‘k-holes’ (the disassociate state associated with heavy usage).
Ian Hamilton, a leading drugs expert who serves as associate professor of addiction at the University of York, said there was ‘no doubt’ social media content was helping to fuel ketamine’s popularity.
‘Young people see these videos on TikTok and that has accelerated its use,’ he previously told . ‘It’s really worrying, particularly the content about what people refer to as ”k holes”.
‘We’ve seen how particular challenges start trending and can result in fatalities. The same thing happens with drugs – they don’t come out of a vacuum.’
Clips uncovered by on TikTok reveal intoxicated users struggling to stay on their feet on so-called ‘ket walks’ or standing immobile while staring into the distance on dance floors.
The horse tranquiliser is now the drug of choice among Brits aged 16 to 24, with the latest government figures showing that consumption among the age group – dubbed ‘Generation K’ – has tripled since 2016.
The low cost of the drug maybe a large factor in what is making it so accessible and desirable to children.
It is around £10 a gram or £25 for 3.5 grams. It can work out cheaper than cannabis and in some cases alcohol.
Meanwhile cocaine is around £80-£100 a gram so therefore Ketamine is much more accessible as it can also be produced in the UK, says Scott Ardley, a senior treatment advisor at Rehabs UK.
He added that youngsters were frequently targeted by dealers online, with Snapchat a particularly popular forum for selling the drug due to disappearing messages.
Deaths related to the drug are up a shocking 650 per cent on 2015 and now average around one per week, according to new data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that shows 53 people lost their lives in 2023.