POLK COUNTY, Fla. - According to a harm reduction specialist, the illicit use of ketamine is on the rise in Polk County.
The backstory:
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has hallucinogenic effects. It already has a "party drug" status, but Becca Smith, a program specialist with the Florida Harm Reduction Collective, said it's becoming more readily available on the streets of Polk County as we see a rise in at-home and telehealth treatment.
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"It's definitely more popular now as a more prevalent treatment for depression, so some people are getting their prescriptions and selling them," said Smith, who is also a Baycare outreach peer.
Smith sees around 100 participants a month in the county. She helps them get into recovery and promotes safe usage for those struggling. She has been noticing an uptick in ketamine use over the last three to four months.
Smith is seeing more overdoses linked to ketamine being mixed with other drugs like fentanyl and meth.
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She said that a lot of the time, people don't know what they're buying is being cut with ketamine, and unlike with a fentanyl overdose, ketamine cannot be reversed using Narcan.
"The first-line treatment that everybody uses, that's a big deal among overdoses — the Narcan, the thing that's going to snap you right out of it so that you can be taken out of the hospital and treated — is not going to work on ketamine."
Big picture view:
Smith said that because this is a new trend, she fears overdoses will rise.
Even though there isn't a way to test for ketamine currently, she encourages those struggling with drug use to take extra precautions.
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"Educating people about it, but also, if you're a person who uses drugs, please test your product. Always, always, always," said Smith.
By the numbers:
According to a recent study by the CDC, overdose deaths involving ketamine increased between July 2019 and June 2023 from 47 deaths to 107 deaths. Almost all of them involved other substances. They determined that further investigation is needed to better understand the role of ketamine in drug overdoses.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Carla Bayron.