Cover Story
Straight from the
The growing
popularity of
ketamine use is
not matched by knowledge
within treatment services.
Sara Woods went to harm
reductionists Mat Southwell
and Amy Massey for some clear
and informed advice
6 | drinkanddrugsnews | September 2017
K
etamine is popular in a few regional pockets in England. It is
particularly prevalent at squat parties in the big cities and the more
rural free parties in the west and east of the country – events
usually held in a field or barn, where a generator pumps electronic
music. The larger parties can go on for three days as long as the
police don’t come.
Partygoers often use cocaine, MDMA, LSD or ketamine, with the
combination of cocaine and ketamine (CK) becoming increasingly popular. The
ketamine is snorted in quantities that vary from person to person, but this can
mean taking up to 10g at one party.
The authorities have prohibited ketamine, but do little to inform about it, and
support services for this user group are scarce. Users are often unaware of the
substantial medical risks they are taking and the measures they can take to
decrease such risks. Besides, many users do not seek help for serious complaints,
because they feel misunderstood by medics and other support services.
This all gave plenty of reasons for K-users Amy Massey and Mat Southwell to
take action. Together with other K-users, these harm reduction activists aim to
improve information exchange and access to healthcare and other services.
Mat has been an active harm reductionist since the 1990s. As a representative of
the Dance Drugs Alliance, he was committed to the interests and health of clubbers,
and has also been involved in the development of a professional response to crack
use. They developed a simple checklist for GPs, which breaks down predominant
crack-user issues into primary health problems and makes it easier for GPs and drug
users to talk to each other.
‘They often have a mutual fear of each other, but such a list gives practical
handholds in consultation and brings the two closer together,’ says Mat. A similar
checklist has been developed for ketamine – the ‘K-check’. Users can bring the K-
check along to their GP visit.
In the meantime, the government is not taking responsibility. According to Mat
the national government says it’s a regional problem, and local addiction treatment
centres do not have the capacity to get involved. This is a big problem, because even
though the group of problematic users may be small, they are suffering serious
physical and mental consequences. In the most extreme cases, people in their
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