Ketamine

Ketamine is currently classified as a class B drug in the UK. In 2025, the government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to reassess the harms of ketamine, in response to concerns about increasing misuse.

The ACMD published its assessment in January 2026. It recommended that ketamine should remain classified as a class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Ketamine was moved from class C to class B in 2014.

What is ketamine?

Ketamine is an injectable, short-acting anaesthetic drug. It is commonly used in medicine to induce sleep and reduce pain before and during surgery, and in emergency trauma settings. It is also widely used as an anaesthetic and pain reliever in veterinary medicine.

When it is used as a human medicine, ketamine is a schedule 2 controlled drug and is subject to strict controls and record-keeping requirements. There are also strict rules governing the use of ketamine in veterinary medicine.

Ketamine is also increasingly used recreationally for its euphoric and dissociative effects. Ketamine can induce feelings of detachment and relaxation, but can also make users feel confused and nauseous.

How harmful is ketamine?

Misusing ketamine carries health risks. Ketamine increases a person’s heart rate and blood pressure, and can make them feel confused, agitated and unwell. A person has an increased risk of physical injury while using ketamine because it reduces their awareness of their environment and their ability to feel pain.

People who use ketamine regularly can develop tolerance to its effects over time and start to need larger doses to experience them. They can also develop a psychological dependency on the drug. Long-term ketamine use can cause other health problems, including:

• cognitive and memory problems, depression and the development of schizophrenia-like symptoms (like hallucinations)
• damage to the urinary tract and bladder, causing pain, bleeding and incontinence, and sometimes requiring surgery to repair or remove the bladder
• abdominal pain and problems with liver function

Although overdose is rare, there is a risk of death, especially if ketamine is mixed with other drugs or alcohol.

The Office for National Statistics has published data on deaths involving ketamine from 2014 to 2024. The number of registered deaths involving ketamine increased from 18 in 2014 to 60 in 2024. However, the data does not show whether any other substances were involved in these deaths.

A 2025 study from the University of Hertfordshire estimated that deaths involving illicit ketamine use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland increased 10-fold from 15 deaths in 2014 to 197 projected deaths in 2024.

How many people misuse ketamine?

A range of official data shows that the misuse of ketamine is increasing in the UK.

The annual Crime Survey for England and Wales provides estimates of illicit drug use. The latest data for 2024/25 estimated that 264,000 (0.8% of) people aged 16 to 59 had used ketamine in the past year. A decade earlier, an estimated 160,000 (0.5% of) people had used ketamine in the last year.

Ketamine misuse is higher among younger people. The 2024/25 survey reported that around 2% of young people aged 16 to 24 years said they had used ketamine in the last year. Among this age group, there was no statistically significant change in ketamine use in 2024/25 compared with the previous year or a decade earlier.

Statistics on substance misuse treatment for adults in England also show an increase in the number and proportion of people entering treatment with ketamine problems. In 2024/25, over 5,300 adults entered treatment with a ketamine problem, more than 12 times as many as in 2014/15. There has also been an increase in the number of children (aged 17 and under) reporting problems with ketamine: in 2024/25 almost 1,500 children reported problems with ketamine use.

In February 2026, the government published data about Border Force and police seizures of ketamine and cannabis. The data showed that 1.3 tonnes of ketamine was seized in 2024/25, an increase of 55% compared with the previous year.

The Home Office also publishes data on certain drugs found in wastewater in England and Scotland. The Wastewater Analysis for Narcotics Detection (WAND) programme estimated that 30,800 kg of ketamine was consumed in England from August 2024 to July 2025. The latest data suggested that ketamine consumption had increased by 229% from 2021 to 2025, the largest increase of any drug tested.

WAND data also provides regional information, which shows that estimated ketamine consumption is highest in Liverpool, Brighton, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Bristol, and lowest in the West Midlands, East Midlands and Scotland.

How is the government addressing ketamine misuse?

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) advises the government about the harms of drugs. In January 2025, the government asked the ACMD to update its assessment of ketamine. The council said it was concerned about increasing levels of ketamine misuse, especially among young people, and noted that people may underestimate the harms of the drug.

The ACMD published its updated harms assessment for ketamine in January 2026. Its report includes detailed information about the use and misuse of ketamine in the UK, health and social harms associated with the drug and options to reduce the harm associated with ketamine misuse.

The council considered whether ketamine should be reclassified as a class A drug. It recommended that ketamine should remain a class B drug but noted that this decision was not unanimous. It made 14 further recommendations, including advising the government to:

• improve and expand testing for ketamine, including at the roadside and on arrest
• provide holistic care for people who misuse ketamine, including by linking drug services with mental health services and specialist urology and pain management services
• commission research on ketamine use and collect more data on ketamine use and harms in healthcare settings.

The government has yet to respond to the ACMD report.

In October 2025, the government launched a public health campaign to raise awareness among young people of the harms of ketamine and other drugs.

Further reading

• Commons Library, Misuse of drugs: regulation and enforcement
• Commons Library, Debate on prevention of drugs deaths (26 March 2025)
• Commons Library, Controlled Drugs (Procedure for Specification) Bill
• Talk to Frank, Honest information about drugs