Street Names For Ketamine

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic and tranquilizer. The brand names Ketalar and Ketaset are legally used to help induce and maintain anesthesia during medical procedures. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance. It is most often abused by young adults in a rave or party setting, but is also commonly used to enable sexual assault.

When ketamine is abused, it causes hallucinogenic effects as well as dissociation that result in a false sense of well-being and detachment from reality.

Methods Of Ketamine Abuse

Ketamine is commonly used as a “club drug” and comes in several different forms that make it easy to use and unfortunately easy to slip into someone’s drink without them knowing. Because some forms of ketamine can be given to people without their knowledge, anyone who goes to clubs, parties, or other social gatherings should be extra careful about their drinks and surroundings.

Ketamine can be found as a liquid, nasal spray, capsule, or white powder. In these different forms, people can snort it, swallow it, or inject it into their body. The variety of forms makes ketamine particularly dangerous because it can be disguised or mixed with other substances, making it difficult for people to know what they’re taking.

Common Street Names For Ketamine

Ketamine is often used as a party drug. People who experiment with the use of ketamine are most likely to take it at clubs, concerts, or house parties.

Ketamine is also a common date-rape drug, alongside GHB and Rohypnol.

Street names for Ketamine include:

• Blind Squid
• Cat Valium
• Kit Kat
• Green
• Honey Oil
• Jet K
• Keller
• Kelly’s Day
• Ket
• K-Hold
• K-Ways
• Special K
• Purple
• Super Acid
• Vitamin K
• Special LA Coke

Learn more about street names for commonly abused drugs.

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The Side Effects Of Ketamine Abuse 

Ketamine abuse is most likely to cause visual and auditory hallucinations as part of its dissociative effects. The drug may also cause psychosis and loss of consciousness in higher doses.

In some instances, a person who ingests too much ketamine may experience a deeply disturbing, near-coma/psychotic state called a “k-hole.” This state causes the person to feel detached from their body.

Additional effects of ketamine may include:

• feeling happy and relaxed
• confusion and clumsiness
• increased heart rate
• increased blood pressure
• slurred speech and blurred vision
• high blood pressure
• anxiety
• panic
• violent behavior
• vomiting
• lowered sensitivity to pain

The After-Effects of Ketamine Abuse

When ketamine’s effects start to wear off, people often experience a range of uncomfortable symptoms. Coming down from ketamine can cause short-term memory loss, making it difficult to remember recent events or conversations. People may also feel confused, anxious, and have trouble making good decisions.

Physical symptoms may include body aches and pains, unusual clumsiness, and poor coordination that can make simple tasks dangerous. These after-effects can last for hours after ketamine use and may put people at risk of accidents or injuries while their body and mind recover from the drug’s impact.

Overdosing On Ketamine

Ketamine is likely to cause loss of consciousness without any major changes to respiration or blood circulation, which makes it unlikely that a person will fatally overdose on ketamine alone. However, if ketamine is mixed with alcohol or other drugs, there is a very real risk of fatal overdose.

Signs of a ketamine-related overdose include:

• inability to move
• rigid muscles
• rapid pulse
• convulsions
• loss of consciousness

If you or a loved one knowingly or unknowingly ingests ketamine, recognizing the signs of an overdose could save a life.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff