Rise in street demand and trafficking of harmful drug

Recreational use of ketamine has quadrupled in the past seven years among people aged over 13, with 900,000 people now reporting to have tried it in their lifetime.

While used safely in hospital settings, demand on the streets has led to a rapid rise in how much police are seizing each month.

In the latest major seizure, an 18-year-old UK resident tried to walk 20kg of the anaesthetic through customs at Sydney Airport in several suitcases.

It followed 882kg of ketamine being seized in 2023, up from 415kg in 2022.

The combined haul included 84kg hidden in two new commercial vans on a cargo ship destined for Sydney, 80kg concealed in 40 buckets of coating shipped to Melbourne, and another 65kg buried at a property near Geelong.

A Taiwanese national is also facing charges after 250g of ketamine was allegedly found in white and orange capsules inside two vitamin bottles at Brisbane Airport in October.

The Australian Federal Police is concerned criminals are increasing their efforts to import the prohibited substance.

"Ketamine is a dangerous and illicit sedative," Acting Commander Kristy Scott said in a statement on Sunday.

"Its dissociative effects block sensory brain signals and can cause memory loss, feelings of being detached from one's body and prevent their ability to perceive danger."

Those features make it a popular party drug, particularly among the LGBTQI community.

About 300,000 or 1.4 per cent of Australians reported using it in the past 12 months, according to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey released last week.

That proportion leaps to 5.8 per cent among gay, lesbian,and bisexual people who had used ketamine in the previous 12 months.

After adjusting for age differences, that community is 3.5 times as likely as heterosexual people to have done so.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park voiced strong concern about the drug's illicit use.

"People (must) understand this message loud and clear: ketamine is not safe to be used outside a hospital setting," he told reporters on Sunday.

"It is dangerous, it can kill you, it can cause extreme harm."

Australian Associated Press