Sometimes we cute this one up by calling it Special K or Vitamin K. But whatever we call it, it’s a fairly heavy duty anaesthetic (a substance that induces insensitivity to pain.) . In its pharmaceutical form it’s a liquid but when we use it, it’s usually been dried to a powder. We swallow it or snort it as a powder, swallow it in a pill or capsule or, rarely, inject it in a liquid form.
Why do we use an anaesthetic? Ideally, Ketamine brings on a feeling of mind-body separation. Sadly just a little too much in too short a time can give us seizures and respiratory depression. And there’s always the classic K-hole with its frightening hallucinations.