56 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
56 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
My note on Ketamine raised some response from the net, and I
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thought I would respond to mind-l in general, as well as to the
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specific folks who were curious.
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*IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER* I am a scientific PhD, not a physician
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Neither I nor my employer take any
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responsibility for its accuracy or
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possible use.
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First, ketamine is in current use as both a veternary and a
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human anesthetic. It is called "dissociative" in action, which
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means that the mind is "separated" from the body. In many
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cases, this separation results in profound hallucinations and
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the sensation of entering another reality. In human use, a
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benzodiazapine like Versed is generally used along with
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ketamine to induce amnesia concerning the "emergence
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reactions".
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The most easily obtained reference about ketamine is
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the Physicians Desk Reference. Under the heading "Ketalar",
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this gives a great deal of information about the drug. Of
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course, since this is a general medical reference, much of the
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info of interest to mind-l is not present, but it should be
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read anyway.
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Perhaps the most important property of ketamine is that,
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despite the induction of both anesthesia and dissociation, the
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cough and gag reflexes *USUALLY* are not affected. This means
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that, contrary to most other agents which will produce
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anesthesia and/or unconsciousness, it is very unlikely that a
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person using ketamine will aspirate their own saliva and other
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excretions. This is *NOT* guarenteed, but is a pretty good
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bet. Solo use, however, remains dangerous.
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Ketamine is generally available for non-medical uses as
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ketamine hydrochloride. Some major chemical houses carry it at
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a cost of about $10/gm. I don't know if there are other
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sources which are cheaper, or if the veterinary form is easily
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available.
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Dosages are discussed in the PDR, but are generally in the
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range of 100-500 mg. Conventional useage is intravenous or
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intramuscular, but "recreational" use is apparently more often
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through insufflation (snorting) or solution ingestion. These
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latter approaches are probably only effective with the
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hydrochloride form, but the reported doses are similar to the
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conventional medical doses.
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As in all such experiments, if you must do this, be sure of
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your materials and start slow, with small doses separated by
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enough time to really come back to Earth between experiments.
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Mahalo
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