Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/DF_GpbXgONF/Recreational ketamine use has surged:  it rose 82% over 4 years from 2015 to 2019 and another 40% over a single year from 2021 to 2022.   Those in their mid-20s to mid-30s are 66% more likely to abuse it compared with those in their early 20s.  Its in greater use by those with college educations compared with those who completed their formal education with high school.Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic and a valuable therapeutic agent for pain relief in the hospital and a useful tool for managing drug-resistant depression.  Used irresponsibly including use with alcohol, ketamine can cause dangerous hallucinations, unconsciousness, seizures, coma, respiratory depression, dangerously low blood pressures, cardiac arrest, and death.  This is not a drug to play with.  Besides these acute complications, its repeated use leads to psychological dependence and addiction.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032724020962?via=ihubhttps://americanad