‘Special K’ party drug set to be trialled as treatment for alcoholics

BRITISH scientists are recruiting volunteers to test whether ketamine, also known as the party drug “Special K”, may be helpful in reducing relapse rates among people with severe alcoholism.

Pilot studies showed ketamine combined with psychotherapy might make detoxing alcoholics less likely to relapse. Now scientists are looking for 96 volunteers with severe alcohol disorder who have been “recently abstinent”.

Ketamine is a licensed medical drug, widely used as an anaesthetic and to relieve pain. But it is also used as a recreational drug and can lead some people into drug abuse.

“Ketamine is a well-tolerated drug and can help alleviate the symptoms of depression, with a pilot study suggesting that it could cut alcohol relapse rates by more than half,” Celia Morgan, who will lead the research at Exeter University, said.

Research in mice has shown ketamine could prompt changes in the brain that make it easier for a person to make new connections and learn new things in the short term. The researchers hope this could make the psychotherapy sessions more effective for alcoholics.

A pilot study found that three doses of ketamine, plus psychotherapy, reduced average 12-month relapse rates to 34 per cent from 76 per cent. Scientists think ketamine’s antidepressant properties may have helped.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) figures, some 3.3 million people die each year from harmful use of alcohol, and alcohol abuse contributes to more than 200 diseases and conditions caused by injury.