Advice

Ketamine and THC vapes

Get the facts on ketamine and THC vapes

The government has launched a new campaign to highlight the long-lasting health impacts of ketamine, particularly in relation to bladder health, and the rise of contaminated THC vapes.

Ketamine

How does it make you feel?

Ketamine is a general anaesthetic so it reduces sensations in the body. Trips can last for a couple of hours. It can make you feel relaxed, detached, confused and/or nauseated. It can alter your perception of time and space and make you hallucinate (see or hear things that aren’t there) and stop you feeling pain, putting you at risk of hurting yourself and not realising it.

Physical health risks

Ketamine can cause serious bladder problems, with the urgent and frequent need to pee. This can be very painful and the pee can be blood-stained. Although stopping using ketamine can help, sometimes the damage can be so serious that the bladder needs surgical repair or even removal.
Ketamine is a very powerful anaesthetic that can cause serious harm. Taking ketamine can be fatal, particularly if it is mixed with other drugs.
Ketamine can increase your heart rate and blood pressure. It can make you confused, agitated, delirious and disconnected from reality.
It can make you feel sick, and it can cause damage to your short- and long-term memory.

Mental health risks

The longer term effects of ketamine use can include flashbacks, memory loss and problems with concentration.
Regular use can cause depression and, occasionally, psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations. Ketamine can also make existing mental health problems worse.

Get the full facts on the FRANK website.Professionals can use this fact sheet to guide discussions with young people they work with.

THC vapes

THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in the cannabis plant. Possession is illegal unless prescribed as a medicine by a doctor.

Using THC vapes has its own risks, but recently, there has been a rise in contaminated THC vapes, which contain more harmful substances, such as synthetic and semi-synthetic cannabinoids, often known as ‘Spice’.

Synthetic cannabinoids are often stronger than cannabis, so it’s easier to use too much and experience unpleasant and harmful effects. THC vapes cut with these substances have contributed to many overdoses in the UK, some resulting in people being taken to the hospital.

Additionally, some drugs are increasingly cut with dangerous synthetic opioids like nitazenes, which have killed 100s of people in the UK in the past year.

Find out more about the risks of synthetic cannabinoids here, or check our page on Spice here to learn more about its effects. Professionals can use this fact sheet to guide discussions with young people they work with.

Remember, if you need non-judgemental, confidential support or treatment, you can contact the Substance Misuse Service on T: 02083567377 or E: yhsms@hackney.gov.uk