The UK government is considering upgrading ketamine's classification from Class B to Class A due to a significant rise in its use.
Penalties for taking ketamine as a party drug could be increased after use surged to record levels. Home Office ministers have asked an expert panel to look at whether the anaesthetic should be upgraded from a Class B drug to Class A - the same as heroin, crack and cocaine. In the year ending March 2023, an official study showed 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 admitted they had used the substance during the previous 12 months. It was up from 117,000 a decade earlier and the highest level yet seen.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson will write to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) asking whether ketamine's classification under the Misuse of Drugs Act should be raised. Dame Diana said: 'Ketamine is an extremely dangerous substance and the recent rise in its use is deeply concerning. 'It is vital we are responding to all the latest evidence and advice to ensure people's safety and we will carefully consider the ACMD's recommendations before making any decision.' The move comes after a coroner wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in November calling for action over the drug's classification following a man's death. Penalties for taking ketamine as a party drug could be increased after use surged to record levels (file image) In the year ending March 2023, an official study showed 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 admitted they had used Ketamine (pictured) during the previous 12 months A coroner found that James Boland (pictured) had died of sepsis caused by a kidney infection that was 'a complication of long-term use of ketamine' Greater Manchester South senior coroner Alison Mutch found that James Boland, 38, from Manchester, had died of sepsis caused by a kidney infection that was 'a complication of long-term use of ketamine'. In a prevention of future deaths report, she said keeping ketamine as Class B would be 'likely to encourage others to start to use it or continue to use it under the false impression it is 'safer
Ketamine Drug Use Penalties Classification Health Concerns
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