U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted six separate ketamine smuggling attempts in Philadelphia, most recently on Dec. 11, that shipped from Europe to addresses in the United States.
Ketamine hydrochloride is a Schedule III non-narcotic compound regulated under the Controlled Substances Act. It is a dangerous anesthetic commonly known on the street as “Special K,” “Donkey Dust,” and “Cat Killer,” and is smoked, snorted, or mixed in beverages, or cut with other dangerous drugs. Overdoses can lead to serious health threats, such as nausea, elevated heart rate, unconsciousness, convulsions, and respiratory failure.
Ketamine is used lawfully by medical professionals to treat human and animal patients. However, ketamine is used illegally by street addicts and recreational users as a hallucinogen, similar to phencyclidine (PCP). Sexual predators also use ketamine to incapacitate their victims…