MEXICAN TEENS TAKING CAT ANESTHETIC TO GET HIGH

MONTERREY, Mexico, - Mexican high school students
in this northern industrial city are increasingly using the cat
anaesthetic ketamine as their preferred recreational drug, a local
newspaper reported on Friday.

Ketamine, which is sold on the street under the name ``special K,'' is
used primarily by veterinarians to immobilize cats and monkeys, but
its effects on humans are similar to those of the hallucinogenic drug
LSD, according to The Lycaeum, an online database (www.lycaeum.org).

Local health authorities say ketamine is a restricted substance, but
some local vet stores sell it over the counter, daily El Norte
reported. A bottle reportedly costs 155 pesos, or about $16.

The use of ketamine among Mexican drug users apparently spread to
northern Mexico from the United States, El Norte reported.