'SPECIAL K' GAINS POPULARITY IN CLUBS, RAVES

"Special K" is not just a cereal anymore. It's street lingo for Ketamine --
a tranquilizer that's gaining popularity and becoming a staple in club and
rave scenes.

Ketamine was originally developed in the 1970s as a medical anesthetic for
both humans and animals. Today Ketamine is mostly reserved for veterinary
medicine, particularly minor surgeries involving cats, dogs and horses,
although it is sometimes used in pediatric burn cases, dentistry and
experimental psychopathology, according to the National Clearinghouse for
Alcohol and Drug Information.

"People get it from raves, or they make it themselves," said Tibor Palfai,
a Syracuse University psychology professor who teaches PSY 315: Drugs and
Human Behavior. "You never know who is making it."

Regulating the distribution of Ketamine is difficult because it is legal
for medical use. While some basement chemists opt to make their own, many
users may steal the drug from a veterinary clinic or hospital. The United
States Drug Enforcement Administration also pointed to pharmacies in Mexico
as a major source of distribution.

Ketamine is widely recognized on the club circuit under a variety of street
names including Special K, Vitamin K, Kit Kat and Keller. "I've used it in
a club like twice," said Jenny, a 19-year-old from Miami who asked not to
have her last name used. "The rest of the times I was at people's houses
with friends." Jenny said she has used Ketamine six or seven times.

According to the DEA, Ketamine's popularity is concentrated in bigger
cities such as San Diego, Miami, Baltimore, New Orleans, Detroit and New
York City. "It's not a big thing here. It's more in the city," Palfai said.
"Ecstasy is more popular at SU."

The fine white powder of Ketamine, often mistaken for cocaine, is sold in
tiny baggies or sample perfume vials. Users can draw lines on a flat
surface like the back of a toilet commode for snorting, or dip a house/car
key into the bag and sniff the powder off the tip of the key.

Snorting the powdered form is the most common method of Ketamine ingestion.
Taken this way, the drug produces effects in about five to 10 minutes. If
swallowed in tablet form, results may take 10-20 minutes. According to the
NCADI, Ketamine is naturally a liquid and is most potent when injected into
the muscle or veins.

Ketamine produces a variety of effects such as visual disturbances,
dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, hallucinations, disorientation, loss of
consciousness, deep, unresponsive sleep and even the cessation of
breathing. According to the NCADI, users report an intensification of color
and sound, feeling a relief of tension and anxiety and sexual arousal. In
small doses, Ketamine produces a relaxed and dreamy effect.

"Low enough dosages make you feel drunk," Palfai said. "But the more you
take, the more likely it is that you'll just fall asleep."

Usually, 25-100mg of Ketamine produces psychedelic effects in about 4 or 5
minutes. A Ketamine "high" lasts for about an hour but can stretch as from
as long as four to six. The after-effects may take one or two days to subside.

Because of its strong disassociative effect, Ketamine leaves users feeling
a detachment between mind and body. Higher dosages of Ketamine may push
people into "near death" experiences, where they feel as though they are
floating above their own bodies. The slang term for this feeling is
entering a "K-hole."

This out-of-body experience may be heavenly for some users, but terrifying
for others.

"I started thinking about death," Jenny said of her first K-hole
experience. "When you're on K, you totally understand what it would feel
like to die. I could imagine our car crashing and just dying, just
nothingness. I freaked myself out."

Brad Janowvski, a 19-year-old from Seattle, hasn't done enough Ketamine to
have a near-death experience, but has taken smaller dosages and found the
effects soothing. "Your body gets numb," Janowvski said. "It slows you
down. Your perceptions are all screwy."

Likening the experience to a combination of sleeping pills, marijuana and
alcohol, clubgoers often pair the anesthetizing drug with ecstasy, cocaine
or heroin to heighten the effect. "K is not a drug I would do in a club on
its own because it slows you down a lot," Jenny said.

Removed from the euphoria of the club scene, Ketamine can be harmful in
several ways. Unfortunately, Ketamine abuse has been reported in cases of
date rape, according to the NCADI. Because the liquid form is tasteless and
colorless, it is easy to slip into a drink. When mixed with alcohol, it can
have dangerously depressive effects on consciousness and breathing, and may
even be fatal.

"Sometimes it's in liquid form, sometimes tablets," said Dolores R. Card,
director of the Syracuse University R.A.P.E. Crisis Center. "It doesn't
have to be in an alcoholic drink to produce an effect, either."

Michael Ladolcetta, a freshman speech communication major, said he stays
away from drugs and alcohol, and believes students do drugs to rebel.
"Teens love to push the issue," Ladolcetta said. "They like to see what's
hot, what they can get away with."

Although Ladolcetta doesn't dabble in the world of drugs himself, he
doesn't forbid the experience for anyone else, nor does he deny his own
curiosity. "It seems like the people that do drugs are happy," Ladolcetta
said. "But I wouldn't do it. The risks are too great."

Ketamine is not as well known as some other recreational drugs, but there
has been some research on its long-term effects. Overall, the drug
depresses the central nervous system, Palfai said, and when abused, can
cause certain types of mental disorders. The true effects of Ketamine are
just beginning to be understood.

"They're just starting to do research on it," Card said. "It hasn't been
around long enough to know them all."

Studies have said Ketamine may be psychologically addicting. "It's like
anything -- if you have a good experience you want more," Janowvski said.

But as the word on Ketamine spreads through the underground, the popularity
of the intense sedative continues to puzzle, especially given the many
reports of bad trips.

"It's like having 20 beers to have a good time, but instead you puke all
over the place and you can't move," Palfai said. "Some drug users are
beyond my comprehension."