Year: 2025
Type: editorial
Abstract: Responding to medicinal and non-medicinal ketamine useKetamine is an established anaesthetic and novel treatment for depression.Concurrently, non-pharmaceutical use of ketamine has increased across the world, with harms including accidental injury, psychological dependence and urinary tract damage.This editorial discusses how the harms and benefits of ketamine can be understood by professionals and the public.Ketamine challenges our consideration of drug benefit and harm and how these two opposing concepts should be balanced by clinicians, policy makers and the public.At a time when ketamine and other related arylcyclohexamines are being investigated as novel treatments for a range of mental health problems, the non-medical use of ketamine is increasing along with associated, often severe, harms.Untangling this apparent contradiction requires sound research, careful monitoring of emerging evidence and a co-ordinated response from health providers.
Source: Addiction
DOI: 10.1111/add.70075
Authors: Owen Bowden‐Jones, Arun Sahai, Paul Dargan
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4411599292