DRUG addiction treatment workers in Barnsley are urging locals to avoid using ketamine this Christmas and the addicts themselves are saying ‘it’s not worth it’.
Almost a third of residents who are based at Linwood House a drug rehabilitation centre in New Lodge are there for ketamine addiction.
The warning comes as the facility, operated by UKAT, has revealed that this year admissions for ketamine addiction have reached record-breaking highs.
Ketamine an effective anaesthetic plays an important part in battlefield and emergency medicine.
It is also used to treat pain in end-of-life care and could treat some forms of depression, however it’s its non-medical use that is causing concern among some doctors and specialist drug-treatment providers.
On the illicit market, ketamine is cheaper than cocaine and MDMA, costing about £20 a gram.
Police forces report large seizures of the drug, but global rates of production are high, and the wholesale price of a kilogram of ketamine is believed to have fallen despite its rise in prominence.
Linwood House has revealed that this year, the vast majority of clients who have checked into rehab for ketamine addiction have been for those under the age of 30, with some as young as 18 years old.
In some cases, their ketamine clients already have irreversible bladder damage, requiring toilet visits every ten to 15 minutes.
During therapy sessions at the facility, residents have revealed that they’ve been using the drug since they were as young as 14.
And worryingly, they didn’t knew that the drug could cause such long-term damage.
Zaheen Ahmed, head of treatment at Linwood House, told the Chronicle: “We’re speaking to young ketamine addicts every day who tell us they never knew they could get addicted to this drug.
“In some cases, their ketamine use has caused severe bladder damage, meaning they’re in constant pain with cramps, and that living a normal, everyday life for them is a thing of the past.
“This message comes from the clients that will be spending Christmas being treated for a ketamine addiction rather than being with family don’t do it, it’s just not worth it.”
The warning comes as new data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that almost three million adults used an illegal drug last year.
UKAT’s analysis of this new report shows that the number of respondents aged between 16 and 59 reporting having used ketamine in their lifetime has risen from 1,010 in 2019/20 before the pandemic to 1,369 last year, a rise of 25 per cent since Covid and a rise of eight per cent in just one year.
What’s more, the survey shows that the proportion of 16 to 24 year olds using ketamine has risen from 5.6 per cent of youngsters using ketamine in 2019/20 to 6.5 per cent in 2024/25.
Zaheen added: “Ketamine is a blight on society and one that we hope that as a country, we get on top of next year.
“It’s ruining the lives of people living across Barnsley and the Yorkshire area and we urge anyone who thinks they’re using it more than they should to reach out because you’re not alone.
” We can help you before it’s too late.”
