DATE-RAPE DRUG TESTED IN HUMANS

Researchers Criticized For 'Inducing Psychosis'

Medical ethicists are raising objections to a study in which 100
healthy volunteers were given a powerful hallucinogen in an effort by
scientists to better understand mental illness.

In studies conducted at the National Institute of Mental Health, Yale
University and other sites, test subjects took small doses of
ketamine, also known as "Special K" or the "date rape drug."

Scientists conducting the study said volunteers were carefully
screened for mental illness and signed consent forms that warned of
side effects such as hallucinations and mood changes. But critics said
the drug's risks are not fully known and questioned the ethics of
inducing psychotic behavior in healthy people.

"The idea of inducing psychosis, in psychology or psychiatry, is the
worst thing that can happen," Carl Tishler, an adjunct professor at
Ohio State University, said Thursday. "If you are a cardiologist, do
you induce a heart attack in someone to see what it's like so you can
study it?"

Ketamine is a trendy designer drug used mainly by young people who pay
$20 to $40 per dose. Nationwide, the drug has been connected to at
least one death of a teenager who mixed it with heroin; numerous
sexual assaults; and thefts from veterinarians' offices and hospitals.

Often used as a surgical anesthetic for people and animals, the Food
and Drug Administration-approved drug can cause mild hallucinations,
confusion and fear with regular use. Severe hallucinations are
possible with large doses.

The Boston Globe reported Thursday that healthy subjects run the risk
of flashbacks months after using ketamine.

"If this is what they do to normal (people), God help us with the
cognitively impaired," Adil Shamoo, a University of Maryland
bioethicist, told the newspaper.

But scientists say ketamine can give researchers insight into the
nature of hallucinations and mood disorders, helping to unlock the
mysteries of mental illness.

The experiments began in the early 1990s and ended more than a year
ago. They were designed to provoke symptoms of schizophrenia in
healthy people during a one-time exposure, said Dr. Trey Sunderland,
chairman of NIMH's review board.