Why do people use ketamine to party? | It's Been a Minute

Recreational ketamine use is on the rise. But why are some people using it to dissociate in the club?

Ketamine a dissociative anesthetic is illegal without a prescription and can potentially be harmful. Yet, it has had a massive rise in recreational use over the past decade. One study () found that use increased by 81.8% from 2015 to 2019 and rose another 40% from 2021 to 2022. What is driving the illicit drug's sudden popularity? And is it's dissociative properties indicative of our times?

Brittany chats with P.E. Moskowitz () , a journalist and author of Breaking AwakeA Reporter’s Search for a New Life, and a New World, Through Drugs () , which explores our national mental health and drug use crises, and Benjamin Breen () , associate professor of history at UC Santa Cruz, who specializes in the histories of science, medicine and drugs and is the author of the book, Tripping on Utopia () . Together they investigate why ketamine is showing up in more people's social lives.

Warning: this episode contains discussion of illegal drugs and drugs use and may not be suitable for all listeners.

(0:00) Why Ketamine is the party drug on the moment

(5:12) What recreational drug users say about it's affects

(13:06) Why ketamine's dissociative effects match today's cultural anxieties

(17:24) Safety concerns for recreational ketamine use

(19:42) Responding to listeners comments

For more information on the science of ketamine, check out NPR's Short Wave podcast () .

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