BAD DRUGS ON THE STREET

A spike in drug overdoses and erratic, violent behaviour downtown has
police worried that bad batches of drugs are making the rounds on
Victoria's streets.

"We're seeing an increase in drug overdoses and severe drug reactions
resulting in some violent behaviour," said Victoria Police Sgt. Grant Hamilton.

"We're finding that we have to physically restrain people like we do
with excited delirium. They're screaming, they're yelling, they're
grunting... the guys are describing it as animalistic behaviour."

Hamilton said one of the department's patrol shifts attended 15 such
calls over a three-day period last week.

Police suspect heroin cut with either ketamine or powdered methadone
is causing severe reactions in some users.

Known on the street as "Special K," ketamine is a tranquilizer first
used in the battle fields of Vietnam. Over the years it has been
widely used by veterinarians as a surgical anesthetic, but has also
been used recreationally since the late '70s.

In recent years its popularity has grown in the "rave" scene.

Although both heroin and ketamine are depressants, Hamilton said the
combination of the two can trigger violent and irrational behaviour
in heroin addicts who are normally docile while under the influence.

In addition to its tranquilizing effect, ketamine use can result in
"profound hallucinations" and a "lost sense of time and reality"
sometimes referred to as the "K-hole," Hamilton said.