Eleven young men overdosed and died this year in the same neighbourhood of Lahore after injecting ketamine and sossigon bought over the counter at local drug stores reported, The Nation.Police are investigating the deaths of another three suspected addicts after their bodies were found in Shera Kot, Baghbanpura and Bhati Gate police precincts in the city centre yesterday. Campaigners believe this year’s death toll could be higher than 20.The high number of these drug-related deaths in just one small area of the city – Mozang – has raised concerns about the availability and lack of restriction on prescription drugs. There is no data available to assess the exact number of Ketamine users in Lahore.Ketamine is a powerful sedative commonly used as an animal tranquiliser but has become popular in recent years as a ‘rave drug’ in Western nightclubs where it is also known as ‘Special K’. If used at higher doses it is known to cause high blood pressure and psychosis.In Lahore, it is freely available in medicine stores for just 80 rupees. Ketamine is a potentially lethal prescription anesthetic that is federally regulated in the US and UK unlike in Pakistan where it is available over the counter for a mere 80 rupees. It functions as a dissociative anesthetic, and so has seen use as a recreational drug all over the world. It is commonly used as an animal tranquiliser and if used at higher doses it is known to cause high blood pressure and psychosis.The families of the overdose victims demanded action to curb the sale of the drug and stricter checks to make sure only those with genuine prescriptions are allowed to buy it. They complained, and rightly so, that the forensic tests on overdose victims suggested the numbers killed by the drug, and another known as Sossigan, could be far higher. More than 35 people have been recovered dead from Lahore’s footpaths and are buried without an autopsy. This will not give a clear picture of how rampant the drug abuse is in the city.
It is absolutely important that the relevant authorities take notice of the illicit sale of ketamine and have government controlled centers where the drug will be available. The low cost is encouraging heroin addicts to buy it and mix it with the heroin, which more often than not becomes fatal. Pakistan already has one of the highest rates of deaths by drug overdose
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