Ketamine: Misuse
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what considerations has she made regarding the adequacy of the classification of ketamine as a Class A illicit substance.
Answered by Sarah Jones
Ketamine is a dangerous substance, which can cause irreversible bladder damage and in some cases death. We are concerned about the harms ketamine causes and the rise in ketamine use, particularly among young people. In October 2025 the Department for Health and Social Care launched a campaign to alert young people to the dangers of this drug.
Home Office Ministers have had discussions about these harms, including with families who have tragically lost relatives as a result of taking ketamine and who have shared their own perspectives on the appropriate classification of ketamine within the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (‘the MDA’).
In January 2025 the Government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to provide an updated harms assessment of ketamine, advice on reducing those harms, and advice on whether ketamine should be moved from Class B to Class A within the MDA. The ACMD carried out a public call for evidence in August 2025, and we expect to receive its report soon. We will then carefully consider its recommendations.
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