Ketamine is a psychoactive substance with stimulant and dissociate effects used in human and veterinary medicine as an anaesthetic. Recent information on its non-medical use points to a possible expansion driven by large-scale illicit manufacture and novel forms of presentation of drug products containing the substance, such as “happy water”, “k-powdered milk” or “tuci” (“pink cocaine”). This Global SMART Update explores how drug traffickers introduce new ketamine-related products, including to new user groups and geographic areas, while sophisticated large-scale clandestine manufacture has been detected and new trafficking routes have been discovered.

Content:

• Introduction p.3
• Effects and medical use of ketamine p.3
• Emerging trends in South-East Asia p.3
• Emerging trends in Latin America p.4
• Emerging trends in Europe and North America p.5
• Diversion and illicit manufacture of ketamine p.6
• An uneven landscape of ketamine control p.8
• A drug policy dilemma? p.9
• Endnotes p.10