Ketamine use in Merseyside has seen a sharp increase in the past decade.
Use of the drug by young people aged 16-24 in the UK has risen by 231% since 2013, data from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has shown.
The drug which was mainly used for antidepressant clinical trials and horse tranquilizer, has become worryingly mainstream.
Police, schools and health professionals say the trend is now one of the fastest-growing drug concerns in the region.
Councillors Lynnie Hinnigan and Harry Doyle brought forward a motion calling for ‘urgent’ action on Liverpool’s ketamine crisis and proposing for the drug to become a class A.
Liverpool City Council has since started a Reducing Ketamine Harm Action Plan.
Lynnie said: “The whole thing with this drug is it’s such a catch-22 – I spoke to lots of people who were either in recovery or trying to but because of the damage they were only taking it to manage the pain, not taking it because they found they were getting a high from it.
“And this is the difference between ketamine and other drugs which are available. Because once the damage is done to your organs, it will kill you.
“So, I felt strongly about putting that motion to the council and calling for action really in the city. Councillor Kennedy, our member for education, said that in the ward that she represents that she’d been told it’s more accessible than baby formula.”
The growing problem has led Alder Hey Children’s Hospital to open the UK’s first specialist NHS ketamine clinic for young people.
It comes after a spike in referrals for serious bladder damage linked to the drug.
Paige Loraine, who runs The Pelvic Floor Clinic in Liverpool, has a mixture of devices to help strengthen the pelvic floor, which is often damaged after severe ketamine misuse.
She said: “My message to kids would be don’t even try it, don’t think that it’s just going to be a one-night party thing, you’re going to get addicted to it and you’re going to end up wearing nappies because it’s going to destroy your bladder.”
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Featured image: Paige Loraine
