What is It?
Ketamine is an odorless, tasteless drug that is found in liquid, pill, and powder form. Ketamine was developed as an anesthetic for veterinarians to use on animals.31 Ketamine is classified as a type of disassociative drug. It alters the actions of the neurotransmitter glutamate throughout the brain.32 Glutamate is involved in perception of pain, responses to the environment, and memory.
Ketamine distorts sounds and sensations and makes users feel detached from reality. Some ketamine experiences involve a terrifying feeling of almost complete sensory detachment that is likened to a near-death experience sometimes referred to as "the K-hole."33
Ketamine is odorless and tasteless and possesses amnesia-inducing properties, the drug is sometimes added to the beverage of unsuspecting victims and used in the commission of sexual assaults, referred to as "drug rape."34