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Ketamine & the Era of Dissociation

Ketamine & the Era of Dissociation

It's Been a Minute vor 11 Monaten

0:00

19:22

Recreational ketamine use is on the rise. But why are some people
using it to dissociate in the club?

Ketamine – a dissociative anesthetic – is illegal without a
prescription and can potentially be harmful. Yet, it has had a
massive rise in recreational use over the past decade. One study
found that use increased by 81.8% from 2015 to 2019 and rose
another 40% from 2021 to 2022. What is driving the illicit drug's
sudden popularity? And is it's dissociative properties indicative
of our times?

Brittany chats with P.E. Moskowitz, a journalist and author
of Breaking Awake: A Reporter’s Search for a New Life, and a
New World, Through Drugs, which explores our national mental health
and drug use crises, and Benjamin Breen, associate professor of
history at UC Santa Cruz, who specializes in the histories of
science, medicine and drugs and is the author of the
book, Tripping on Utopia. Together they investigate why
ketamine is showing up in more people's social lives.

Warning: this episode contains discussion of illegal drugs and
drugs use and may not be suitable for all listeners.

(0:00) Why Ketamine is the party drug on the moment
(5:12) What recreational drug users say about it's affects
(13:06) Why ketamine's dissociative effects match today's cultural
anxieties
(17:24) Safety concerns for recreational ketamine use
(19:42) Responding to listeners comments

For more information on the science of ketamine, check out NPR's
Short Wave podcast.

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

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