The drug has become embedded in Bristol's culture, earning the nickname 'Bristol Crystal', and UK-wide use has surged to record levels in recent years, particularly among young people. Health impacts are severe, with deaths linked to ketamine increasing twentyfold since 2014 in the UK, and NHS admissions for ketamine addiction roughly doubling, with 3,609 people starting treatment for misuse in 2023-24. Prolonged use can lead to 'ketamine bladder', where the bladder becomes small and hard with a capacity potentially smaller than a teaspoon, and patients with such problems have already been treated in Stockholm, with concerns it may appear in Finnish healthcare if ketamine use increases.
Across Europe, ketamine has become a trend, with recreational use increasing compared to before, particularly in the Helsinki region in Finland; the drug, originally developed as an anesthetic, can have hallucinogenic effects such as a feeling of detachment from one's body, and in the United States, it is used as a so-called 'date rape drug' because it paralyzes people and causes loss of consciousness and memory in victims. In the UK, ketamine was made an illegal Class B drug in January 2005, and when first criminalized 21 years ago, only 2% of 16 to 24-year-olds had tried it, a figure that tripled by 2020; enforcement efforts have intensified, with Border Force seizures climbing dramatically by more than 50% year on year, and the government launched a multi-million campaign in October last year to highlight the dangers of ketamine, targeting 16 to 24-year-olds in particular.